A look around the Fresno City College campus shows many students inked with tattoos, permanent marks on their bodies.  Shows like L. A. Ink have popularized tattoos and made them a trend in today’s society.

But do people get them for the right reasons? Some people get them at a young age without much thought, but getting a tattoo should be thoroughly thought through.  It is a decision one has to live with for a long time.

Aubrie Cook, a student at FCC, regrets a black sun tattoo located on her hip bone. It was her first tattoo and she got it when she was only 16 years old. “At first I thought it would be cool, but the second I saw it, I didn’t like it, and I plan to get it removed.”

If you’re going to get something that will be on your body forever then thinking it through should be your top priority. Alyssa Thompson, a junior at FCC, has several tattoos and there is one that she regrets getting. “My artist wasn’t sober when he did my tattoo, and it didn’t come out like I wanted it,” she said. Thompson plans to get her tattoo fixed.

Choosing the symbol or image to get inked on your body is an important decision. You want to make sure it is something that means a lot to you and it’s not just something that looks cool. Amber Cabrera has two plumier flowers representing her love for her grandpa and her grandma etched on her upper leg.  She has no regrets and in fact loves having the art on her body because her tattoo means something to her.

Michael Espinoza, a sophomore, has an Aztec warrior tattoo on his arm. He said, “My tattoo represents my heritage and where I came from; it shows my pride.” He had thought about what he was going to get for years before he got it done. He said, “It’s a pretty hard thing to decide what you are going to get, because it is on your body for life, so it’s got to have some deep meaning.”  

Tattoos are works of art, but they are works of art that are on your body for life. Before you go out and get stars tattooed on you because it looks “cute” you should really think to yourself “Will I want this on me 20 years from now?”