Many people, especially college students, think about getting a tattoo at one point or another. Most shrug off the idea or can’t decide what to get. Some do it to be rebellious. Others do it to be sentimental. Many do it as an indicator of strength: to represent something that they have overcome. No matter what your reasoning may be for wanting a tattoo, as long as you’re doing it for you, you love it, and you believe in what it means, that’s all that counts—even if the meaning behind it is just that you really love elephants. You do you, my friend.
Personally, I never seriously considered getting a tattoo until about eight months ago when I found out that I was going to have surgery for the third year in a row. Needless to say, I was pretty upset, and I considered getting a tattoo after the surgery to symbolize my overcoming the obstacle over and over again, but it never happened. The summer was tough, but I got through it. However, coming back to school wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be—regardless of how life is going, though, some things always stay consistent. I have family and friends who I can always rely on. I have passions, talents and hobbies, and of course, there’s always chocolate. Personally, I wanted a tattoo that would represent these happy things—the consistent highs in my life—so that every time I look at it for the rest of my life, I will smile, and the meaning will maintain its significance.
So, how did it all happen?
Step 1: Commit.
For me, before I could decide on anything else, I needed to convince myself that I was going to do this. Once I had it in my head that I was going to get it, the idea didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would. In fact, I started to get really excited.
Step 2: Research local tattoo shops.
Obviously every (good) article you read about getting a tattoo will reinforce that this is a permanent life choice, and you need to consider carefully who you entrust with this task. So, I looked up a wide range of tattoo shops in the Pioneer Valley. I read reviews, looked at artists’ portfolios, and ultimately decided on Lucky’s in Northampton. Now, it’s only been a couple hours since I got the tattoo, but so far I am very happy with my experience there. The artist, Alysha, took her time to sketch out my design to my specifications, walked me through the process, and executed the tattoo fabulously.
Step 3: Decide on a design and the designated body part.
I opted for a small, easily hideable design and placement for my first tattoo, which to me makes sense. This decision gives me a chance to see how my body reacts to getting inked, and allows me to decide whether or not people see my tattoo. After an extensive google search of various placements, I decided on the outer side of the top of my foot.
At this point, I knew that I wanted my tattoo to signify the love and connection between me and my parents. A lot of ideas ran through my head, and I’d get stuck on one for a day or two at a time, and then shrug it off. Finally, it came to me.
My parents and I recently moved out of my childhood home. Going home for Thanksgiving will be my first time staying in the new house. So, we spent a lot of summer talking about the idea of, “Home is where the heart is.” To me, my heart lies with my family, so home is wherever they are. One of the ways that they always travel with me is through the scent of lavender. I have lavender sachets in all of my clothing drawers. I have sheet spray from the lavender farm that I go to with my parents whenever I am home. My mom and my old house always used to smell like lavender and a sweet combination of other herbal essences. I never realized until the idea came to me how much of a role this beautiful plant plays in my daily life.
Step 4: Execute.
I called Lucky’s, and they had availability for a walk-in tattoo, so my friend Caroline and I hopped in the car and went over. But first, I changed into shorts, anticipating that taking off skinny jeans over a fresh foot tattoo was not going to be a nice feeling. I also grabbed some chocolate for our reward afterwards (Caroline got her nose pierced five minutes after I got my tattoo, so needless to say, we had an eventful and exciting evening.)
Upon arriving, Alysha was ready to talk to me about my design, as I had emailed her some pictures earlier in the afternoon. Once we talked, she took about 20 minutes to do a drawing, which she then came out and showed me. After agreeing on the design, we went upstairs, where she transferred it onto stamp paper. She placed the stamp on my foot so that I could see exactly what the tattoo would look like before it happened. This also gave me the opportunity to make any adjustments that I wanted with the design and placement. About 10 minutes later (yes, it only took 10 minutes to actually apply the ink) I had a tattoo! We took a ton of pictures of me and the new ink, then Alysha wrapped it up and we left (after Caroline got stabbed in the nose, hehe.)
That night, the pain quickly subsided, and I was walking fine. A lot of articles say that foot tattoos can swell a lot and be really painful, but so far, it’s going really well.
The next morning, I woke up and was pleasantly surprised at how well I slept. The tattoo was the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes, and I’m still glad I did it. I took a shower, cleaned it according to the artist’s directions, and put some lotion on it.
Like anything else, I’m sure I’ll go in and out of loving it and feeling pretty indifferent to it. Overall, though, it was totally worth it, and I’m very happy. It’s not the kind of thing that I can “highly recommend” because this should be 100% your decision, and everybody reacts differently. It’s working out so far for me, and the anticipation was much more nerve-wracking than anything else.
My main advice would be if you decide to get one, be prepared to back up your decision before you get it—like it or not, everybody is going to ask you. Bring a friend who will take pictures and distract you throughout the application process, because it doesn’t exactly tickle. Lastly, once you have it, own it. You did this for you and nobody else, and it’s there now, so you might as well embrace it.
Photos courtesy of author.