If you were to ask me four years ago if I would ever get a tattoo, my answer would be a firm no. Now, one tattoo and a million ideas for my second later, here I am. When I first got to college, I was totally against tattoos for myself. I loved the idea of getting one just as much as I like to see other peoples’, but I never thought it was for me. There’s something so scary about it being permanent that scared the living hell out of me, but now that’s the one thing I love most.
Let me rewind to sophomore year of high school. I was living in my second dorm room with a new roommate, just accepted my first ever scholarship, and landed my first internship. I was on top of the world. It was fun to post about it on social media and call my parents to see and hear all of my family and friends excitement, but I wanted something permanent. Something that I could remember forever. Something that would remind me of how great I felt in the now, right at that very moment.
The ink on my paper wasn’t going to last and the virtual ink on my Facebook would soon just get pushed to the bottom after everyone else’s good new, so I decided to turn to another form of ink. Looking back now, there are a million and a half better tattoo ideas that I could’ve chosen, but I picked a hand-drawn arrow to signify always moving forward. Words cannot describe how nervous I was. I brought my roommate – a tattoo veteran — with me to hold my hand and as I sat in the chair, I realized how many things I had yet to experience.
The tattoo was so small that it took about two minutes to complete, but sitting in the chair was one of the best experiences. I was nervous, excited, scared, and giddy all at the same time, and I knew I wanted to experience the same flood of emotions over and over. Never had I stepped out of my comfort zone before. I hadn’t ever had so many emotions wash over me, and ever since then, I pushed myself to experience more things that made me just as nervous.
But that wasn’t all that I gained form getting a tattoo in college. I gained a mile marker — something that I can look at when times get rough and remember exactly how I felt in that moment. Memories fade and Facebook posts get lost, but the ink will be with me forever.
So go after what you want in life. Get the tattoo, talk to the hottie at the bar, say what’s on your mind. Because college will end and after that the real world starts. It’s nice to have something to remind you of when life wasn’t all that bad.
