As the daughter of relatively conservative and highly professional middle-class parents, I have been raised knowing the unfortunate negative stigma against tattoos. Phrases including "You won't get a job if you have tattoos," and "You'll regret it when you're older," have lead to my fear of having ink on my body. I was well aware my old fashioned grandparents, aunts, and uncles also believed the same negative connotation. Yet with the knowledge that the strong social stigma against tattoos was only breeding from my family tree, I have put three tattoos on my body.

Tattoos are no longer exclusively adorned by social deviants and criminals. Somewhere in the past ten years, tattoos have become almost as common as ear piercings. For today's generation, getting a tattoo seems to be a right of passage. In a study according to the American Academy of Dermatology, 36 percent of people age 18-25 have at least one tattoo (Hein). I can conclude my eagerness to get a tattoo was due in part to my parents' negative connotation about them. I wanted to prove them wrong.

However, regardless of the increase in popularity of tattoos, those without tattoos still defile against the credibility of a human being just by the choice of having tattoos on their body. It's unfortunate, but true. Career Services directors have been quoted saying if two people are applying for the same job and one applicant has a visible tattoo, the other applicant will likely be chosen. And although the stigma tattoos face isn't necessarily fair, it is the way it is. In this economy, you must conform to society to make it (Hein).

So, as I question as a potential pre-med undergraduate major whether I want to conform to society and not express my individuality and ideas that words can not do justice on my skin, I can't shake the fear. My current tattoos are not visible to the front. Other than my parents automatic tangent on my less likeliness to be successful because of my tattoo on the back of my bicep, when my tattoos are seen, I have gotten nothing but positive comments regarding their meanings and placement. But I know of many instances where those with clearly visible arm and wrist tattoos getting publicly embarrassed and judged by their decision to get images/words etched into their skin. In a 2001 study done by Vault.com, almost 60 percent of employers said they would be less likely to hire someone with visible tattoos or piercings. In the same survey, only 11 percent of employers said it would affect their decision to hire someone if body art was covered (Hein).

It is understandable that many older and/or more traditional people would certainly frown upon a visible tattoo on a doctor. Tattoos may distract certain patients so much that they wouldn't be able to share comfortably, listen to medical advice, or even want to see that doctor. Therefore, regardless of my work ethic and talent, I would be less likely to be hired because I have a simple and tiny tattoo on my body.

I obviously think the stigma is highly unjustified. People should be able to do what they want. It should not define whether a person is good or bad at their career of choice or at being human in general. And as an open-minded millennial, if my doctor came to see me with tattoos covering his or her arms where I could see them, I would feel more kinship than otherness. A tatted-out doctor would symbolize the success of those defying society's social stigmas on what is considered a proper and professional appearance.

So, to what extent is it the responsibility of the professional to have an appearance that puts the employer, patient, or customer at ease, versus an appearance that they feel good about?

As a potential doctor, I would like to believe that most patients would prefer a brilliant, loving doctor with tattoos to a dumb, cold one without. I would hope a patient would only care about the fact that the doctor is someone who knows what he or she is talking about, listens to them, and cares about them. The appearance shouldn't have any correlation to any of these essentials, but today it undeniably does. My professionalism is represented by the amount of piercings on my ears, the color of my hair, and the ink visibly, or even not visibly, seen.

So when I question whether I should get more tattoos, I can't deny I have so much I want to say, so much I want everyone to know I represent. So much I want to ingrain in my being and be able to look at everyday, knowing I am being my wholly authentic self. Do I not care, be myself, and do whatever I want, or understand the circumstances of my future workplace and shy away from such means of self expression? I was blessed with the emotion of caring, which includes caring what other people think. I care about what my parents think of me and I am going to have to care what my employer and patients think of me when I can't get a job. Times are obviously changing, but by the time I am in the position to be judged, will the stigma be gone?