(Left to right) Mr. Jorge Olmo, Jaiden Cruz ’18, and Dilan Bozer ’17 sport tattoos of varying size and meaning.
As Johnny Depp once said, “My body is my journal, and my tattoos are my story.” The inherently permanent nature of tattoos makes this form of artistic self-expression especially powerful. And although they are in the minority, several Choate students and faculty also have tattoos. A few of them shared their stories with me.
Take, for example, Jaiden Cruz ’18. He has a medium-sized tattoo on his left shoulder, which consists of the center piece of the Barbadian flag — a trident — and the center piece of the Filipino flag — a sun — surrounded by Polynesian tribal patterns. Cruz grew up in Toronto, but he is half-Barbadian and half-Filipino, hence the art on his tattoo. “I wanted to get something that was connected to my roots and shows who I am,” he said.
Dilan Bozer ’17 offers another perspective. She has one tattoo consisting of three dots on her forefinger, which has little meaning and is purely aesthetic. She also has an Om symbol behind her right ear. The Om symbol is considered sacred in Hindu and Buddhist tradition. It is also a big part of yoga, which Bozer has been practicing since she was five — one of many reasons she likes this symbol.
Of course, not only students have tattoos. HPRSS teacher Ms. Kyra Jenney has a small infinity sign on the inside of her right wrist. “It reminds me that change is inevitable. We have an infinite number of choices and possibilities in front of us,” she said.
Math teacher Mr. Jorge Olmo has five large tattoos, which are comprised of many small designs tied together with tribal patterns. Not all of his tattoos have meanings. He said, “Tattoos are kind of like jewelry: it decorates the skin. I like the way they look.”
A lot has changed in the 19 years Mr. Olmo has been at Choate. “Back then it was frowned upon,” he said. But in recent years, he continued, “That old style of thinking is gone. You just don’t feel bad anymore.” Now, Mr. Olmo even gives advice to students on tattoos and good shops to get them.
Among students, tattoos tend to elicit curiosity. Cruz said that he gets the same questions about his tattoo a lot: “Is it real? Did it hurt?” He wishes people asked more about its meaning rather than logistics. Similarly, Bozer said that because she is not yet 18 years old — the legal age to get a tattoo in the U.S. — people often ask whether she got hers legally. She said, “In my social circle in Turkey, it’s very common for people to have tattoos, but at Choate it sparks interest.”
Whether as a form of self-expression or an aesthetic decoration, tattoos are increasingly accepted and received with wonder, at Choate and beyond.
