Dezman Garner, an undecided freshman, shifts his back toward the tattoo artist at Decorative Injections Tattooing and Body Piercings, 44 N. Court St. He fidgets around in a leather chair and asks if he’ll contract a flesh eating disease. The moment before the needle touches his right rib cage, Garner extends his hand to friend Devin Lear, a 22-year-old Athens local, and squeezes tight.
“It’s like getting on your first rollercoaster; I can do this,” Garner laughs.
Garner said he attributes his recent ink, “never a failure, always a lesson” on his right to “the freshman experience” of wanting to try new things, despite wanting the tattoo for over a year now.
A study done by the American Medical Association in 2012 offered that 36 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have tattoos, and freshmen such as Garner are quick to become a part of that statistic.
Employees at Decorative Injections said most of their freshman customers have been women and they tend to see a larger increase in freshman customers toward the end of the semester. Shawn Hawks of Skin Hooked Tattoos, 8 N. Court St., said more than 20 percent of his new customers have been freshmen, with most getting nose, lip and tongue piercings or bird tattoos.
Tricia McCulloch, who has worked at Decorative Injections for a year and a half, said the new void of parental supervision aids the desire to get tattooed and pierced.
“They’re away from their parents, and it’s their first chance at freedom,” McCulloch said. “Usually they get something they won’t regret. I definitely don’t think that too many people get obscene things.”
Maria Thomas, a freshman studying psychology, and her friend Zach Theders, a freshman studying pre-retail merchandising and fashion development, were also at Decorative Injections to plan their first tattoos.
Thomas said she is planning to get the phrase “excelsior” on her wrist.
“I’m away from my parents, they wouldn’t be real fans,” Thomas said. “They’re gonna find out, I just haven’t told them yet.”
Theders said he plans to get a double-infinity sign on his wrist, and thinks his freshman year is as good a time as any to do so.
“I don’t think my parents would care, but I don’t think I have to tell them either.”
Garner knows it’s inevitable that his parents will find out but doesn’t regret his decision.
“It makes the perfect opportunity to try something new,” Garner said about his new tattoo. “You have a clean slate, new people, new town (and) new experiences.”
eo300813@ohiou.edu
@eockerman
