Emma Stone has bird feet tattooed on her wrist. Lady Gaga has a trumpet on her bicep. While they might seem like hollow sketches, meaning is camouflaged in every round of ink. Stone’s bird feet represent her mom beating cancer. Lady Gaga’s trumpet tattoo honors her late friend and musical partner, Tony Bennett. It’s fair to consider tattoos as one of the most creative forms of self-expression. Just like the rest of the world, the North Penn High School community has its own special scatter of people who are inked with memories.
North Penn Senior Alley Williams:
“I got my North Star tattoo on August 24, 2023, while I was with my dad, mom, and my mummy (or grandma in English). I chose the north star as my first tattoo because it symbolizes always knowing which direction I’m heading. Placed on my right hand, it serves as a reminder that I’m always moving in the right direction,” Alley William explains about her matching tattoo with her father who is her guide.
“I got this tattoo on January 26, 2024, while I was with my mom. I chose the moon for its representation of feminine energy and life changes. My mom has the same tattoo, which shows that she will always have my back and support me,” Williams notes. “The lily and hibiscus flowers complement this meaning by symbolizing beauty, grace, and innocence.”
“I got my swans tattoo on August 21, 2024, while I was with my dad. I wanted something that expressed my love for ballet without being traditional. The swans forming a heart symbolize my passion for ballet from a young age and the beauty of the art form” William said about her dedicative, comfort tattoo.
North Penn English Teacher Sarah Levandowski:
“There was a Twenty One Pilots lyric about the power of words that had been stuck in my head for years, which became the base of my tattoo: a harpoon with a fountain pen head as its spear. This ultimately led to a wonderful dual meaning: not only could this tattoo serve as a visual representation of that lyric but also as a representation of one of my favorite literary characters. I fell in love with Queequeg, the star harpooner in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the first time I taught that novel. Suddenly, I had the base of a tattoo that represented many things: a favorite song, the power of words, my career, a beloved literary character. But far be it from me to stop there: there is more symbolism packed into every other detail, from the types of flowers to the three little asterisks near the spear, but those are stories for another day. Tattoos hurt. There’s no way around that. Yet, if you can immortalize the people you love and the facets of your life that shaped you into who you are today, wouldn’t you want to carry that art with you, especially into the “portentous, menacing road of a new decade”? (Fitzgerald 135)” Levandowski reflected.
North Penn Senior Marin Johnson:
“The pearl was my first tattoo, I got it in January of this year with my parents, and I got it because Pearl is my middle name,” Marin Johnson said.
“The butterfly is my newest tattoo and I went with my dad to get it. It doesn’t have a meaning to me, I just loved the design and my mom has something similar on her arm so we kind of match,” Johnson replied.
“I also have three lotus flowers on the back of my arm. The top one is still a bud, the middle one is starting to bloom, and the bottom one is fully opened,” Johnson explained. “I got those on the same day I got my butterfly, and I love how the flowers progressively bloom as they go down. It’s a representation of myself growing up.”(Not pictured).
North Penn High School History Teacher Andrew Schmitz:
“One day, I randomly texted my sister and said “We should get matching tattoos”. Naturally, she responded “Definitely!”. I chose a pineapple just because I like pineapples and think they look cool, but they also are a symbol representing “home”. In my family, we lost our brother at a young age and our Mom passed away a few years ago, so we thought getting matching tattoos would be a great way to bring us closer together and to have something shared with each other. My wife was jealous that she was not included in the initial plans, so she ended up getting the same pineapple tattoo as well,” Teacher Andrew Schmitz explained.
North Penn Senior Renny Mulford:
“I got [this tattoo] in December of last year at Revelation on 309. My best friend, Parker, got the same thing on her upper arm and it’s a drawing I did of a car magnet we got in Ocean City a year ago. We’ve gone [to Ocean City] every summer or the past 5 or 6 years and always get a magnet for her car, and this one was so special because we have this whole thing about perspective,” Mulford recounted.