The ProwlerFeb. 14, 2013 13Features

To ink or not to ink-- that is the question. No disrespect to Shakespeare, but does the artistic beauty truly outweigh the terrific pain?

Senior Christina Justice prepares herself for the pain as she toughs it out for her first tattoo. Victoria Justice/Special

Think before you. . .

Christina Justice ’13

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Killian Moroney ’10

Trip Wood ’13

Senior Christina Justice proudly displays her first tattoo, after years of anticipation she finally receives her unique yet meaningful tat. Killian Moroney, a 2010 graduate, ensures himself safe keeping due to his diabetic tattoo. Senior Trip Wood built up the courage to get his first intricate tattoo.

Tiera Joseph ’14Staff Writer

Senior Christina Justice put her family first when

soldiering through her first tattoo. She chose angel wings with eagle feathers on her left shoulder, which is a combination of her mother’s angel tattoo and her father’s eagle tattoo. To top off the tie between her mother and father, Justice had the word “family” tattooed in Arabic between the wings. “When people tell you tattoos hurt, they’re not lying,” said Justice, recalling her first tattoo parlor experience. Sophomore Nicholas Richard-son built up the courage to get a tattoo that reads ‘Nikki’, the name of his mother. Surprisingly, Richardson said it actually didn’t hurt at all. “I just walked to the tattoo shop and paid for it out of my own pocket,” he said “my mom knew and everything”. The Food and Drug Adminis-tration’s most recent regulations on tattooing list the several pros and cons to the popular form of the body art. Health effects may vary from allergic reactions to even more serious bacterial infections such as hepatitis and HIV. Risks of infection stem from improperly sterilized needles or improper aftercare of a tattoo, the FDA said. Other common cons are removal problems, MRI com-plications, growth formations at the puncture site and an inability to donate blood. A more common

con is dissatisfaction, and since it’s permanent, chances of laser surgery removal are costly and painful. Although many may find them-selves getting tattoos solely to keep up with social trends, 2010 graduate Killian Moroney sought a different interpretation for his first tattoo. Diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of 16, Moroney was required to wear a diabetic brace-let to alert paramedics to inject insulin in case of emergency.

However, none of these bracelets met Moroney’s satisfaction. Be-cause of his parent’s frustration at his failure to wear the bracelet, they allowed him to transfer all of the information from the diabetic bracelet onto his forearm as a tattoo. “It looks really cool and it didn’t even hurt,” Moroney said. Senior Dylan Keenan ex-pressed his love for skateboard-ing and a particular manufac-turer, when he received his newly-minted diamond tattoo about two weeks ago. Keenan, who has been skate-boarding for six years on and off, has grown quite fond of the

Diamond Supply Co. Although this is his first tattoo, Keenan said he plans to get ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ across his collarbone and more tats on the backs of his calves. In senior Trip Wood’s fresh-man year of high school, he drew a rough draft of a cross tied to a hook. “I just drew it because I thought it looked kind of cool,” Wood said. However, Wood had no idea of the turn his life would soon take and how the sketch would soon play a major role in it.

Wood gave his life to Christ a year after the free-hand sketch was created. He began getting really involved in his church, Heritage Christian.

Aware of his soon approaching eighteenth birthday, the idea of treating himself to a tattoo began to grow on him. “I found the old picture I drew, had some ideas, and started plan-ning it out,” Wood said.

After Wood received the tat it symbolized his turning 18, but it soon came to represent a quote that Jesus says in the book of Matthew. “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me,” Matthew 10:38. “This cross reminds me of my impulsiveness and how I’m ready to take it and give it up to Christ,” Wood said. The art of tattooing can be ar-tistically unique, but before you find yourself on the business end of a tattoo gun, make sure you think before you ink.

What to know before you go•According to current Georgia law (16-5-71) no one under the age of 18 can get a tattoo without the supervision of a licensed osteopath or physi-

cian. •Verify that your tattoo artist is licensed and

experienced. Look for the licensed physician and osteopath certificate, which must be posted in

plain view in the tattoo parlor. •Sanitation in a tattoo shop is first and foremost. Don’t be afraid to ask your tattoo artist how he sanitizes his gun and to explain the procedure

about needles. •Over the course time your body changes and

your interests mature, so will your tattoo hold its shape and meaning?

Dylan Keenan