Everyone tells you that you should think long and hard about what a tattoo means to you. After all, it'll permanently be on your body. FOREVER. Some people say you should wait u til you get older so you don't regret it later on in life. The word "older" to me means 19. 19 seems like the perfect time to get your first tattoo, especially when you're making your own decisionsin life.

Many people scolded me and did not support my decision to get my tattoo. Family and friends thought it was a dumb idea and a waste of $145. What they don't know is the story behind my tattoo. So, in honor of it only being a week since I got my first ever tattoo, here's the reason why I chose what I got.

Elephant. My favorite animal ever since I can imagine. One of the first movies I ever watched as a child was Dumbo and from that point on, I was fixated on the cartoon character. I've seen old baby pictures that show elephant decorations around my playroom, mobiles with baby elephants on them, tons of stuffed animals that were elephants. The first time I ever saw an elephant was the circus and I was fascinated by all the amazing tricks they were performing. After realizing how badly these animals were being treated and how many of these beautiful creatures were being hurt in their own habitats, I tried to set up a small protest to try and save the elephants (mind you, I was only 8 years old at the time). I wanted to raise money and I made my own fliers, but let's be honest, it failed completely. I've seen hundreds of elephants come and go through local zoos and they quickly die off because they don't have the actual necessities to live in a small, caged home.

That is one of the main reasons why I will not visit a zoo. It hurts my heart to see these animals go through pain and suffering, especially when these animals are only limited in the wild. As I grew older, my love for elephants grew bigger. I painted tons of canvases, bought more stuffed animals (yes, even as an adult), have blankets with elephant prints on them and anything else you can think of. To top it all off, I wanted to get something that I knew would stay with me forever: a tattoo. No one really knew how much I loved these animals and how I've loved them from day one. Everyone thought I was joking when I was 15 years old and promised that my first tattoo would be of an elephant. Now at 19 years old, I can finally say my first tattoo is of a baby elephant.

Moral of the story... before you judge someone based on some ink, ask them the story behind it. Half of the time, there's a reason behind it and it could be a very interesting story.