Nicole Frey has devoted much of her life to mathematics.

Frey, a first-year graduate student, is studying for her master’s of science in mathematics education, and plans to apply her studies to teaching or actuarial science in the future.

But Frey’s love for math is not limited to her studies and career pursuits. In winter 2010, Frey and a lifelong friend went to get a mathematical creation tattooed on their bodies.

On Frey’s left upper ribs lies a small, half-dollar-sized symbol created by herself and her best friend, Natalie Wheeler. They wanted to seal their friendship in an everlasting fashion, so one evening, they took it upon themselves to create the symbol that would soon become an icon of their friendship and Frey’s love for math.

“One night, we started drawing random things,” Frey said. “We originally started with the letter ‘N’ because both of our names start there, but after a while, we decided on what you see now.”

The design they decided on is a combination of two mathematical symbols: three dots, standing for ‘therefore’ in mathematical proofs, above an upside-down ‘U’ shape, known as an intersection sign.

“We wanted the symbol to be less literal and more of our own invention,” Frey said. “The three-dot ‘therefore’ sign is a representation that things are proven and ultimate, while the intersection sign stands for the element that two sets have in common, what we have in common — our friendship and now a two-of-a-kind tattoo.”

During Winter Break of Frey’s freshman year, the two friends went to their local tattoo shop – Body Art in Burlington, Vt. Frey and Wheeler provided the artist with their drawing, which he then proceeded to re-draw on tattoo contact paper.

The re-draw, however, was altered in such a way that the symbolism had changed and was not up to Frey’s standards. After a few more failed attempts at re-draws by the artist, Frey and Wheeler decided to draw their design on the contact paper themselves.

Both tattoos took under half an hour to finish, and Frey and Wheeler now share a lifelong bond in ink.

For Frey, the tattoo is a constant reminder of her love for math, the memories of doing number problems on her mother’s white board at work and her best friend, who shares the same symbol in the same place.

“Tattoos are such a permanent thing. It should be related to something that is enduring,” Frey said. “Math and friendship have been everlasting in my life. I often feel that my connection to family and friends are very mathematical.”

Published on March 5, 2013 at 12:29 am

Contact Ian: imfeiner@syr.edu