“My mom has a couple of tattoos so I’ve always wanted one, but the pain sucked. The tattoo is on my back and it’s a crown for my last name. It was $240 and it took an hour and a half,” King said.

Junior Zac Perkins got his tattoo Sept. 3. He got it done at Threshold tattoos and it took about an hour.

“I asked my dad before baseball season started if I could get a tattoo if we won state. He told me that we would both get one if we won. We did win but my dad still needs to get his tattoo. My tattoo is for baseball because I have been playing my whole life and winning state championship means a lot to me,” Perkins said.

Junior Samantha Azzato got her tattoo on June 22 at Ken’s Tattoos and it was $60.

“The tattoo represents my cousin Rory who passed away recently with cancer. It is is a yellow ribbon with his name and dates on it. I got the idea for the tattoo at his wedding. There were blue ribbons with his name and his wife’s name in them. I changed the color of the ribbon and just used his name for my tattoo.It hurt pretty bad and I was nervous at first but once he got started I was fine,” Azzato said.

Senior Aaron Brown has a tattoo on the inside of her arm that says ‘Imagine.’ The tattoo was inspired by her her favorite Beatles song. 

“I got mine for my 18th birthday at Threshold and it took 10 minutes. My best friend went with me to get it and it was $40. My tattoo was inspired by John Lennon, the lead singer of The Beetles,” Brown said. “A tattoo is a permanent way to express yourself. It didn’t hurt at all except for the letter G. Other that that it was just an aggravation.”

Senior Alex Dockler has two tattoos. One is on her ankle and symbolizes her dad’s kidney cancer. The other one is on her side and says ‘Stay Strong.’

“My aunt used to say stay strong to my brother while she was suffering through cancer,” Dockler said. “The tattoo on my side keeps my aunt with me all the time. I was excited when I got there but when he was about to start I got nervous. Once he got going I ended up being fine throughout. The ankle tattoo I got in September and my side tattoo I just got recently.”

Junior Calvin Munson has two tattoos that both represent his love for Jesus. He got his back tattoo, which is a cross, a couple days after his 16th birthday. The tattoo he has on his side he got just before his junior year. It took an hour and a half for the tattoo artist to finish both. Tattoos, however, can also be a family affair.

“My religion is important to me,” Munson said. “I got my tattoos done at St. Louis Tattoo Company in Chesterfield, they were $450 all together. My mom came with me both times.”

Written by: Kirsten Sample