JULIE SCOTT: JUNIOR
When junior Julie Scott went to get her tattoos, pain was the main thing on her mind.
“I was extremely nervous,” Scott said. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to handle the pain.”
Scott has two tattoos, one on her ankle that says her sisters’ names and one on the front side of her hip of a ladybug on a vine. She said both of them were painful, but the hip tattoo hurt worse.
Scott said she puts a lot of thought behind her tattoos and each of them has its own special meaning.
“I got my sisters’ names because we’ve been through a lot together and my family means everything to me,” Scott said. “And I got the ladybug because my mom used to call me ladybug when I was little.”
The next tattoo she plans to get will be on her left wrist and it will read ‘family’ one way and ‘one love’ another way.
For the most part, Scott said people have responded positively to her tattoos, but there are a few people who have disapproved.
“Most of my family agreed with them because they have meaning behind them,” Scott said. “But some people tell me that it’s immature for me to get them so young and that I’ll regret them someday.”
Scott got her ankle tattoo when she was 14 and her hip tattoo over spring break in 2012. She said she loves her tattoos and doesn’t ever see herself regretting getting them.
“They all have a deeper meaning behind them,” Scott said. “And I think that as long as you think about your tattoos and make sure they’re meaningful, you won’t regret them.”
Scott said she thinks society has a tendency to judge and stereotype people with tattoos.
“People think that if you have a tattoo you’re a bad person and you don’t think about your life choices and stuff like that,” Scott said. “But really, if you want to [get a tattoo] then do it. It’s your life.”
DYLAN QUEEN: SENIOR
Senior Dylan Queen said he was named after one of his dad’s friends who was killed in a car accident.
“His name was Scott,” Queen said. “So my parents named me Dylan Scott Queen.”
To commemorate his dad’s friend and serve as a reminder of how he got his name, Queen got his initials “D.S.Q.” tattooed on his ribcage when he was 17.
Though his dad’s friend died before Queen was born, he said felt it necessary to get the tattoo not only to serve as a personal reminder, but for his dad’s sake as well.
“My dad isn’t big on tattoos,” Queen said. “But I wanted to get one, so I decided to get something that meant something to him and meant something to me—it’s kind of for both of us.”
Queen said peoples’ reactions to his tattoo either go one way or another; they think it’s cool and say they like it, or they tell him it’s stupid. Generally, Queen said it’s the latter.
“A lot of people just don’t like tattoos,” Queen said. “They think that since they’re there for life, you’re ruining your body. They think they’re mess-ups.”
Even though people respond negatively to his tattoo, Queen said he just ignores them and lets it go.
“Everyone has their own opinion and they’re not going to give it up,” Queen said. “So I just let them think what they want, because I like it, so I don’t see why it matters if other people don’t.”
Queen said he prefers tattoos that have a strong meaning behind them, though he has no opposition to people who get generic tattoos.
“I’m not going to judge other people for their tattoos because I don’t want people to judge me for mine,” Queen said.
-Written by Aly Johnson, Feature Editor