Seth Mecklenburg | Arts & Life Co-Editor

“Tattoo Tales” is an ongoing series that features Buena Vista University students’ tattoos and the stories behind them.

Sophomore Corporate Communications major Jenny Van Oort has two tattoos. She got her first one done in the fall of her freshman year at Buena Vista University (BVU). She had wanted it for a couple of years before that.

“It was something that was a motivational and a strengthening symbol for me,” Van Oort said.

The tattoo says “Hebrew 11:1” which says “Faith is the assurance of things unseen and the conviction of things hoped for.” Van Oort has reflected on the past year of having a tattoo.

“My friends were really cool with it; they understood why I wanted to get it. It was a personal freedom choice. The only person in my family that knows about it is my mom. At first she wasn’t so happy about it, but after I told her what it meant and why it was important to me, she warmed up to the idea,” Van Oort said.

She isn’t hiding it, the tattoo is something she is proud of and means a lot to her.

“It’s for me; it’s a personal thing. I got it on my ribs; it doesn’t necessarily need to be shared with other people. It means something to me, I’m not afraid, it’s permanent, and it’s not going anywhere. But people don’t always have to know about it,” Van Oort said.

She recently just had it touched up and is still very glad she has the tattoo.

“Everyday when I see it, it reminds me of what is important for the day,” Van Oort said.

She even got a new tattoo just this past Thursday. She had been planning on getting it for a while. This one is of a compass with Latin words that translated mean “the heart leads you back.”

“It’s in memory of some close people to me that have passed away recently. It’s a reminder that even though they are not here everyday, they live on in your heart,” Van Oort said.

Van Oort says that there is a pain tolerance involved, but the process of getting a tattoo is easy enough when she focuses on the end result. She puts a lot of thought into her tattoos, so by the time they are being done, she is sure she wants them. Right now, she doesn’t have plans for more but has no regrets.

“I’m not sure if I will get anymore, I haven’t thought about a third one. But the ones I do have mean a lot, and to me it’s more important to have ones that mean a lot as opposed to getting a tattoo because I can,” Van Oort said.

Photos by Seth Mecklenburg