"Oh my gosh. You have a tattoo?"

I'm an 18 year old Jewish woman with a tattoo on my right calf. For years I've been fascinated by the art of tattooing but getting a tattoo is sort of frowned upon in my religion. I just want to say that I didn't get this tattoo to be a disgrace or to rebel. My mom actually took me to get my tattoo and even got her third one before I got mine. Also, my sister has two. Parent approval wasn't an issue. Peer approval and grandparent approval was another thing but everything is okay now. :) Honestly it didn't matter what anyone said because I was getting this tattoo. The stories that they tell about people and the amazing artistry and time that goes into one tattoo. When I was 18, I was getting some ink.

I believe that every tattoo should tell a story. People always say, "Are you sure? It'll be there forever". I know my tattoo is permanent. I want it to be there forever. And yes I know that it'll hurt more to remove than it did to get it in the first place. But that doesn't matter because I want t to be forever.

I was deciding between two different designs for my first tattoo; a feather or a rose. The feather is for my camp because that special place has made me who I am today and I want it to forever be with me. The rose had a slight deeper meaning. I don't tell a lot of people the reasoning behind it because the tattoo is for me and for no one else. When I was trying to decide where I wanted to get the tattoo, my mom said something that resonated with me.

"You don't get a tattoo so you can try and figure out ways to cover it up."

She was completely right. Tattooing is an art form. Like I said, this tattoo is for me. I don't care what other people think of it or think of me because of it. If you don't like me, or don't hire me because I have an outline of a rose on my calf then that's not my problem.

The reason I went for the rose is simple. My middle name is Rose so my entire life I have been given roses on my birthday, on Valentines's Day, or any time flowers were a part of the equation. Roses were always the flowers I was given and roses became my favorite flower.

There was a time at the end of middle school and at the beginning of high school where I felt very alone and sad. It happens to everyone in high school. Where they can't seem to find their place. For me the experience felt like it went on forever. Sometimes, to cheer me up, my family and friends would get me roses. I would also drive to the closest grocery store and stare at the bouquets or buy myself some roses.

To me, roses represent happiness. They're a reminder of beauty in a time of darkness and a sign of strength in a time of weakness. My rose tattoo reminds me to always look on the bright side. That thinking positively is important and living in a world of happiness is way better than feeling bad for yourself.

So yes I have a tattoo. Yes, I got it in the middle of my Senior year of high school. Yes, it is way bigger than I thought it would be but I wouldn't have it any other way. Like I said, there's a story behind it. I didn't get inked to rebel or because I thought it would make me cool. I wanted the rose to be forever a part of me. I wanted to always be happy.

Now I buy clothes that help show it off because I'm proud. Because you don't get a tattoo to try and cover it up. And because I hope that it'll make other people happy too.