Graduating from high school can be the best feeling in the world. You have accomplished so much and it’s time to get out on your own and be rebellious without anyone telling you what to do. But is that really true?

“It was time for me to do something crazy and different and something that no one expected me to do” said Sydney Thomas, a junior communication major.

She is talking about getting her first tattoo, which her parents didn’t know about.

“My mom wasn’t too happy when I told her I wanted one, so instead of worrying her and making her think different of me I went and got one without her knowing and to this day (two years later) she still has no idea.”

Even though Sydney is out of the house and on her own she still feels as if she doesn’t want to say anything to her parents and she still doesn’t want them to know what she did.

“It was something I had to do for myself and maybe one day I might tell my parents but right now I’m OK with keeping it from them.”

Many students fear what their parents will think if they deface their bodies and get a tattoo, but to many it’s not about defacing, it’s about the art and the meaning behind the tattoo.

Kelli Jennings, a junior education major, says her tattoo was about the meaning and the art.

“I wanted a tattoo for a really long time and it wasn’t something I got just to say I had a tattoo, but it was about the meaning behind the tattoo.”

She says the tattoo reminds her of her love for God and what he has done for her.

Tattoos are usually put on your body to remind us of loved ones or to represent something that is important to us. I have a tattoo myself and it is a representation of who I am. Faith is written on my foot and it’s a word that means so much to me and it is something I strongly believe in. Though my parents were not too happy when I told them of my tattoo, they couldn’t stop me from getting one because I was able to do it on my own and I was living on my own at the time. But, in the back of my mind, their opinions weighed heavy on my decision. They approve of it now and like it, but it isn’t something they want me showing off.

Though I went ahead and got a tattoo without my parent’s full approval, there are many who will never get one on account of what their parents think.

Angela Westphal, a senior marketing major, says “my parents would disown me if I came home with a tattoo. My mom has never approved of tattoos.”

Angela admits she wants to get one and likes the way they look on some people but her parents really affect her decision about getting one.

Gabe Wyatt, a junior psychology major, said his parents also would disapprove of his getting a tattoo.

“I’m not totally on my own, they still help me while I play baseball and, plus, I still care what they think.”

He said that they just wouldn’t like him getting a tattoo and their opinions mean something to him. If they wouldn’t like it on him then he wouldn’t get one out of respect for his parents.