STJ, Ink: STJ, Ink: Week 1-New Beginnings

If you have ever walked the St. John's University campus here in Jamaica, Queens you will see more than your fair share of students that have tattoos. Have you ever wondered what drives these kids to get these permanent marks on their skin? In my own experience, I've found that not every tattoo has a story, but those that do, have deep personal meanings. By choosing to display their tattoos, they're not only displaying them as works of art, but they're displaying their dreams, beliefs and values.

This week, I talked to Christa, 21, who is a Junior and a Journalism major.
She has four tattoos but the ones we focused on were her script (a tattoo that uses a quote, phrase, words, etc.) tattoo and her lotus flower tattoo. Not only were these tattoos joined physically, but they were also joined by the meaning behind them.

The script, which is a quote that reads "I will go in this way and find my own way out", is a quote from the song "#41" by Dave Matthews Band. The tattoo was done at Propaganda Tattoo Studio in San Diego.

Speaking of the lotus flower (which traditionally symbolizes change or new life), the piece was done in January of this year at Superchango Tattoo Studio in The Woodlands, Texas. (Beware of loud music on this website)

My main question to Christa was, "What do these tattoos have in common, what do they symbolize?".

She was very candid about explaining that these tattoos represent a large part of her life's story over the past few years. Christa explained that she had hung out with "the wrong crowd" in her old town and chose to leave that lifestyle behind and start fresh here at St. John's. Aside from switching cities, she also switched majors drastically, from Accounting to Journalism, determined to pursue her dreams even if she, in her own words, "had to do it the hard way." She was eager to say that she is proud of her ink and the meanings that they both carry and that they will always remind her of the life she left behind and the new life that she started here.

Also, for our class, we were assigned to construct a photo essay with a few shots from around our campus, enjoy.