It was just some drunken mistake. It wasn't unplanned. It's not nothing. It's a reminder. It means something. Tattoos don't have to be just some picture you thought was pretty. It is a piece of art, but it also can have real meaning. Most people think of tattoos as a young mistake but really they can mean something to people.

For me, I planned where I was gonna get, when I was gonna get it and why I was gonna get it. A semicolon is used when an author could've ended their sentence/story, but chose not to. However, a semicolon has now been a strong symbol for suicide prevention. When we think about how an author uses a semicolon not to end their story, we use a semicolon to symbolize that we are not gonna end our story. Just as readers are supposed to read the semicolon as a pause before finishing the story, people all over have used the semicolon as a reminder that their story isn't over yet.

My junior year of high school I lost two friends to teen suicide and it hit me, my school and my community hard. It was a rough few weeks for all of us. Seeing the impact that it had on our community I never want someone else to have to go through what we did. I started a project to educate young teens on teen suicide and how to prevent it. I made it my mission to not have someone close to me have to go through that. Having a semicolon on my wrist is a constant reminder that my story isn't over yet. I can still help people and live a good life. It's a reminder that life goes on.

Tattoos aren't just a stupid mistake. They can mean something. Before you judge someone for having a tattoo think about why they got it or what it could mean to them. It's not a drunken mistake, it's a symbol. There's a reason, there's a meaning and there's a tattoo. My tattoo was not a dumb college decision, it was planned. I won't regret, I'll remember why I got it every single time I see.