Tattoos are becoming an increasingly common form of self-expression among students in high school. At Granada, many students have been getting tattoos that resonate with them personally.
Among thos students is Junior Raelyn Clouser. Her tattoo is the roman numerals of the date August 19, 2011. While tattoos with dates usually commemorate a loved one’s death, hers symbolizes a new beginning.
“My tattoo is my adoption date… I was three years old when my parents adopted me and the date has always been something I wanted to get tattooed on me,” Clouser said.
Clouser claims that it took a while for her parents to get on board with the idea of a tattoo, but once they found out the true meaning of the tattoo, they were more open to the idea of it. “They let me get it for my seventeenth birthday”.
Other students at Granada have tattoos that match with important people in their lives. Junior Layla Martinez got matching tattoos with her brother and cousins in memorium of their great grandparents. Her tattoo depicts their birth flowers (Hawthorne, Lily of the Valley, and Rose) along with a term her grandfather would commonly say to them.
When asked about what her parents thought about the tattoo she said, “Honestly they were pretty open minded about it, the only thing they were hesitant about was my age, since I was only sixteen when I got it. I think it helped that I was getting it with my cousins and brother and that it was a heavily thought out tattoo idea, not just a spur of the moment type of thing,” said Martinez
“My great grandparents were the glue that held our family together and having this tattoo just reiterated that they are with us at all times.”
Although there are plenty of people with heavy hearted, memorial tattoos, there are students, like senior Andy Plummer, that get fun but still mean something special. She has two tattoos, both a tribute to her favorite music artists and albums.
One on her arm being a tribute to the Rolling Stones song “Wild Horses” with her tattoo picturing three horses running after each other. Her other one, matching with her parents, being an Andy Warhol banana that was the album cover for “The Velvet Underground & Nico” by rock band The Velvet.
Although all tattoos are different in meaning and importance, for Granada Students it represents their unique stories and ways of expressing themselves.
