Whether it’s for fun or to represent a passion tattoos are a powerful way to express oneself. PHOTO CREDIT: Dasha Albee
I’ve heard “tattoos are like potato chips, you can’t just have one.” I agree. Once you get one, you can’t stop and you’re already thinking about your next one.
Tattoos allow you to express yourself and basically create art on your body, which is awesome. Whether you get a tattoo for fun, to match a friend or to represent your passion, anyone can rock a tattoo in style. Special respect goes out to people who can commit and get a huge tattoo on their back or chest; I could never.
I personally have one tattoo of a small black airplane on my right wrist and it means a lot to me. It not only signifies the connection between my two homes (I am from Saint Petersburg, Russia) but also the biggest fear I had to overcome. I love learning about people’s tattoos and the meanings and stories behind them, so I walked around campus and looked for people with cool tattoos.
One that caught my eye was from a young man named Caleb Racine. He is a freshman engineering major with an awesome tattoo on his right forearm. Racine’s tattoo consists of three trees extending from three triangles. The tree in the middle appears to be alive while the ones on the sides of it look dead.
Being an engineering major, Racine told me “triangles are the most supportive shape in engineering,” which I personally didn’t know before and thought was a pretty fun fact.
We can also see how the tree in the middle has extended its roots to the middle triangle and the ones on the sides haven’t. The roots signify reaching out for support and resources, also known as the supportive triangle shape.
“The tree in the middle has reached out for help, allowing it to stay alive, whereas the ones on the sides still need to reach out their roots to come back to life,” Racine said.
Much as Racine had to reach out for help, the trees on the sides needed to do as well. I thought this tattoo was absolutely amazing and I loved the meaning behind it. I completely agree with Racine that, when in need, reaching out for support can impact you in a very positive way and having someone to talk to is always very comforting.
As a psychology major, I am always very happy to hear when people have a support system or someone they can turn to in hard times, so Caleb’s story made me very happy. This tattoo is a perfect representation of the outcomes of that support. Especially now, as we’re still in a pandemic and trying to transition our lives back into work and school mode. It is difficult and can be very hard on the mind and body, so reaching out is always important and can help make your life just a little less stressful. Much like Caleb’s tattoo, we can learn to reach out for help or for a friend and be just like the tree in the middle!