Making their mark

Hilary Thompson

Sophomore Patrick Saccomb shows off his tattoo of Saint Patrick that he got to honor his Irish-Catholic background. Saccomb also plans on getting a tattoo of his family’s coat of arms.

How the tattoo trend has impacted GCSU students

Tattoos tend to be more common among college students, being seen as a “right of passage” in some cases.

Tattoos are very personal, often containing a story or special meaning behind the chosen design. There are those that have gotten a tattoo just because, but those with stories want to share them to show that getting something permanent is something to think about.

Senior Spanish major Rachel Ulloa has a tattoo on her wrist of the Spanish word “está.”

“Getting a tattoo is not something I take lightly at all, so I spent the past year debating where I should get it, if I should get it, and so on,” Ulloa said.

Ulloa got her tattoo this past July in Milledgeville. The significance of it has to do with her Hispanic background, her favorite Bible verse and the inherent meaning of the word. The verse is Psalm 46:5: “God is within her, she will not fall,” and the word “está” loosely means “is” in Spanish. There are two words that mean “to be” in Spanish and that is what Ulloa loves about it.

“In this Bible verse the verb estar was chosen to place more emphasis on the location, not necessarily the being, or person, of God,” Ulloa said.

Later in the year after Ulloa got her tattoo, she went with her roommate senior math major Elizabeth Carpenter to get hers. Carpenter’s tattoo is the phrase “Carpe Diem,” which means “Seize the day” in Latin. The saying is a favorite of hers from elementary school.

What makes the tattoo so special to Carpenter is the design of it and the day when she got it.

“It is written in my aunt’s handwriting. I went to live with her after my mom died when I was 13,” Carpenter said. “I also got the tattoo on the anniversary of her death.”

Some people have claimed that tattoos are addicting and this seems to be proved by the TV show personalities with countless tattoos. Carpenter feels the same saying that she can’t wait to get her next one, a dandelion that reminds her of her childhood with her mother.

Like Ulloa, Patrick Saccomb, a sophomore, feels strongly about his tattoo.

“Well nowadays people are getting tattoos just to get them. I feel like something that permanent should mean something,” Saccomb said.

He has a tattoo of Saint Patrick on his shoulder, which comes from his Irish-Catholic background. He also plans to get another tattoo: his family’s coat of arms.

Another person who shows that one tattoo is just not enough is Damian Cornelison, a senior criminal justice major.

His two tattoos are connected with his fraternity Pi Kappa Phi. One is the Greek letters with his initiation numbers and the other is their national symbol, the star shield.

“I had just always wanted to get a tattoo and once I was initiated into my fraternity I had (ideas for) tattoos I could get that would mean something special to me forever,” Cornelison said.

Posted by Danielle Paluga on Nov 18 2010. Filed under Features, Lead stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.