Getting her first tattoo was more than a way for Hailey New to experiment and take charge of her looks. It was a way to stay close to home.

Growing up in Portland, Oregon, New, the junior child and family studies major wanted to get this tattoo as a way to stay true to her roots and express the new person she was evolving into.

Raised as a Christian, New said that she got three roses for the Holy Trinity.

“I wanted some piece of home to be with me. So it’s an embodiment of my past on one tattoo. I’m always far away from home so it’s nice to have that reminder of home,” New said.

In her religious household, she’s the youngest and only girl in the family. She said she was always very conservative and viewed as a baby.

New said she is the only person in her family who has gotten a tattoo, and her conservative background could be the reason why she felt pushed to get one.

“This tattoo was my way of rebelling. I was tired of being viewed as this pretty little innocent girl, I’m a woman now,” she said. “I guess I was 19 at the time, but I was tired of being babied.”

Kali Addison Brown | Contributing Photographer

Although her parents aren’t very fond of tattoos, she said she was truly surprised by their reactions.

“My family always said that if I ever got a tattoo I would have to get it lasered off immediately, but they haven’t yet so I win,” she said. “Some of my family is like, good for you for being yourself, but others tell me that I’m going to regret it.”

New said people have made assumptions about her personality for a long period of her life, and subsequently has become used to the harsh reactions she sometimes receives.

Going away to college had a very strong impact on New’s acceptance of her true personality, she said. Once she was on her own and met other people her age and saw they were all different, it helped her realize that it was OK to just be herself.

“In high school I was always viewed as that innocent sweet girl. One of my friends I met freshman year of college showed me that it was okay to get in trouble sometimes and to have fun and live while you’re young,” she said. “I shaved the bottom of my head, but I wanted something more permanent so I got a tattoo.”

Published on September 5, 2016 at 11:09 pm