Senior Anthony Otey had been entertaining the idea of getting a tattoo ever since he saw his father get a tattoo a couple of years ago. His dad got a tattoo of the Leo sign, since he was born in the horoscope of the Leo.

“I don’t know what made them seem so cool,” Anthony said. “I just always wanted to be like my dad growing up.”

When he finally got his tattoo, Anthony decided to honor his mom. Not only is she a hard working, single mom raising three kids, but she is someone who Anthony respects from the bottom of his heart.

“She inspires me,” Anthony said. “My hat goes off to her because she has three kids and works for a job that doesn’t really treat her right, and at the end of the day she still has to come home to three crazy kids.”

Intrigued by his dad’s tattoo, Anthony got a tattoo of his mom’s name, “Demetria” in dedication to his mom on the left side of his chest.
“[The idea] seemed appealing because I knew if I got it of my mom’s name she wouldn’t get mad at me,” Anthony said. “I’m a ‘momma’s boy.’”

Despite a little reluctance at first from his mom, she came to appreciate the tattoo that Anthony got.

“When I got my tattoo, my mom was really surprised and a little bit disappointed,” Anthony said. “She kept asking me things like, ‘Is it fake and can you wash it off’ … she didn’t like it at first because she didn’t want me to get a tattoo until I was 18. But in the end she liked it because it was her name.”

Anthony got his tattoo done by his friend at his friend’s house.

“[Getting a tattoo at my friend’s house] is pretty sketch but I wasn’t really thinking about that at the time. All I wanted was my tattoo,” Anthony said. “He was the only one who would do it for me at the time.”

Unlike what he had anticipated about the pain of getting a tattoo, Anthony recalls that there was very little pain when getting his. The entire process only took half an hour, shorter than he had initially expected.

Lots of people are surprised when they discover Anthony’s tattoo.

“There aren’t many people with them here,” Anthony said. “They [people] always ask if it [getting the tattoo] hurt.”

In the future, Anthony wants to get more tattoos, but he’s not sure as to what they’ll be. He won’t be getting them anytime soon, but wants more.

As far as advice goes to people who want to get tattoos, Anthony recommends getting a tattoo if you really want it, and if it’s meaningful enough. The rule of thumb comes down to whether you will regret it or not in the future.

“Know what you want to get,” Anthony said. “Once you get it, it’s not coming off.”

Senior Jessica Tepepa was born in Fresno. When she moved to Mountain View, she wanted to make sure that she always remembered that Fresno was a significant part of her life. So when she decided to get a tattoo, she thought about getting something that would remind her of Fresno. She decided to get a bulldog paw on her back.

“I had the bulldog paw because I was born in Fresno and didn’t want to get some little figure that didn’t mean as much to me,” Jessica said. “In Fresno, their mascot or symbol is a bulldog. The bulldog paw shows where I was from and born.”

Jessica knew she wanted to get a tattoo when she was younger, but wasn’t sure what to get. She appreciated tattoos as a meaningful and personal art form, and had many relatives who had tattoos.

“I always knew I wanted to to get a tattoo since I was younger,” Jessica said. “I always thought about it. Most of my uncles are tatted and some of my friends too. It seemed appealing and I love the artwork people have and the stories shown through them, or what they represent.”

When she was old enough to get a tattoo, Jessica said that it was very painful. It took a lot longer than expected, almost an hour because she had to take breaks in the middle due to the pain.

“I think it was worth it. To this day I don’t regret it,” Jessica said. “I was really excited because it was going to be my first tattoo that I will remember forever.”

Despite the fact that it hurt, Jessica plans on getting a tattoo of her mom’s name in cursive on her foot.

“My mom means everything to me, she had me really young and she tells me the life struggles she had,” Jessica said. “But at the end of the day she made it through and to this day she still had me and has helped me. Not only that,my mom hasn’t had the best life either so she does what she can for me.”