Barons show off some meaningful ink, all possessing a great story or a great belief. Photo by Jake Winkleby Tejas Chadha, Staff Writer
Some of the students and teachers on campus looking to express themselves and their character have found an outlet in the form of body art.
Tattoos have over time become a less taboo and more widely accepted practice, so as some of the students of Fountain Valley turn 18, they are more than ready to decorate their bodies with various designs.
Kristy Le (’17) proudly displays two tattoos, a small wave on her finger and a paw print on her ankle. To her, her tattoos have to do with different experiences through her childhood that have shaped her.
“You know when you’re little and you run into the water, but you’re scared of the waves but you always come back…how I see it, the waves are people who underestimated me or told me I couldn’t do anything but I always proved them wrong,” said Le.
Tien Nguyen (’17) uses his body art to maintain a connection and remember his late grandfather. He has the shared birthdate in Roman numerals of his grandfather and himself on the top left of his chest. He uses his tattoo to fondly remember the good times he had with his grandfather and the positive relationship the two had while he was growing up.
Kamberly Bigler, ceramics teacher at Fountain Valley, has in total five tattoos each with it’s own special meaning to her. The one she feels the most passionately about is an arrow sprawled across her wrist that to her symbolizes following your heart and letting her path be carved by her own volition.
“It’s like my own canvas, which is funny because I like to draw, and that I would do that on my body, but to me it’s like my own form of expression,” said Bigler.
Many students or teachers who had tattoos were reluctant and not interested in showing or talking about their body art. It may be because those tattoos remind them of the time they would prefer not to talk about or perhaps they fear the stigma attached to having tattoos, but regardless it’s always good to see the diverse population of Barons that inhibit Fountain Valley High School.
