As I sat on the train around 7 a.m., a girl who could not have been any older than 25 got on and sat down next to me. No words were exchanged, we just went about our morning commutes. It wasn’t until three stops later, when an older woman, probably in her forties, got on the train and stood in front of the girl sitting next to me, that I noticed the girl next to me was tattooed. Now, she was wearing a short sleeved shirt and shorts, so the tattoos on her forearms and thighs were all visible as well as the one on her ankle and wrist.

What grabbed my attention the most, however, was the way she reacted when the older woman got on the train and scoffed, “Oh! Those tattoos will make you homeless! You will never get a good paying job looking like that!”

The girl next to me did not get angry at this remark, she simply replied back to the woman, “If I were wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt, you wouldn’t even know I had a tattoo. This is my body and I am free to do what I want with it. I chose to put my artwork where they could be seen and where they could be covered. That was my decision and my decision only. Tattoos will not dictate whether or not I have a job or whether or not I am homeless. My personality and how I handle interactions like this one, when someone has an opinion that differs from my own, are the things that will decide my future. And, just so you are aware, I am a student at Tufts University and currently have a 4.0 GPA, even with all of my tattoos! I hope you have a nice day!”

The incident that I witnessed on the train allowed me to come to the realization that there is a huge stereotype surrounding tattoos. A recent survey showed that 76 percent of people over the age of 35 believe that having a tattoo, whether visible or not, severely hurt an applicant’s chances of getting a job. This same survey also found that nearly 40 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 have at least one tattoo. This means that the people we, as young adults, are interviewing with for potential jobs, already do not think we are qualified if we have a tattoo because they have some preconceived notion that tattooed people aren’t hard workers, or will amount to nothing.

As a young, college-aged, adult, I believe that our generation needs to break down this stereotype surrounding tattoos and show people that just because you have some ink, doesn’t mean you will be homeless. Your work ethic and personality are two of the things that are going to help you make something of yourself. Don’t let someone tell you that you can’t be what you want to be because of the way you look. Tattoos are a type of artwork and a way of self-expression. Be proud of your ink and don’t let anyone stop you from achieving your goals.