By Arianna Bekas
As tattoos become much more accepted in today’s modern culture, we see more and more people make the commitment to put one on their body. Before, tattoos used to be something that people kept under wraps and hidden away from the public eye. Now, individuals display them all over their body and use them as conversation starters, or simply because they like the aesthetic effect it gives them. As tattoos become more accepted, we see people in professions that used to not fit the idea of working individuals who have tattoos starting to get them. That is why The Blue and White went out to talk to some teachers here at Apopka High School about their tattoos.
The first teacher interviewed about their tattoos was Mr. Houvouras, an AP art and art history teacher here at Apopka High. Mr. Houvouras said that while he never initially wanted a tattoo, he got to a certain age and decided on the right 
image that he could live with for the rest of his life. Mr. Houvouras went from no tattoos to a whole sleeve in a short period of time. When asked what the inspiration was behind his tattoos he replied, “Well I have my wife’s name on my forearm prominently because you know our relationship is forever. It’s one of the great love stories of the world, so I thought it was most appropriate to do her name in bright red on my arm. The other things have meaning in either art or relationships with the people in my family. I have a cross that’s a replication of a necklace my grandfather gave me for my first communion when I was eight years old.” Mr. 
Houvouras is looking to add a lot more tattoos to his collection. “I only have one tattoo on my right arm, and it’s almost like my right arm is naked. I want to get it covered.” An idea Mr. Houvouras has for his next piece would be a replica of the Calling of Matthew by Caravaggio on his back, which is a painting.
Mrs. Partain is an AP Environmental Sciences teacher at Apopka High School, and she has quite the collection of tattoos, all with their own meaning. “I have ten tattoos. I have a matching tattoo on my left foot with three of my girlfriends who I consider my sisters, it is a filigree heart and we all have our own color; mine is a blue. I have the seven chakras on my right foot swirling around from my pinky toe all the way up to my ankle. I have a giant owl on my left ankle that is a cover-up of a breast cancer ribbon. I have my husband’s name tattooed on my hip, that was my very first one. I have ‘this too shall pass’ on the inside of my right arm, and matching diving sparrows on each of my shoulders. I also have an 
Indianapolis Colts horseshoe on the back of my neck, and my wedding ring is tattooed on my finger. I have the roman numerals of my very first date with my husband tattooed on my ribs. There is an ‘in memory of’ tattoo that my mother picked out when she found out she was diagnosed with cancer. When she beat cancer we were all going to get this tattoo, and when she lost I got it. My dad built street hot rods so I have a ‘Daddy’s Girl’ with a wrench and a socket being crossed, that’s also on my ribs.” Mrs. Partain was twenty-seven when she got her first tattoo, as she was not allowed to get any tattoos or piercings until 
she had a mortgage. This rule was courtesy of her father. Her first tattoo was a spur of the moment decision, and she says she hopes it says her husband’s name in Chinese but she is not quite sure. “It could say ‘you’re a big dork,’ I don’t know.” Mrs. Partain believes that making the commitment to a tattoo is beautiful, “Your body is your temple, and it is your canvas. It tells the story of you.”
Mr. Mellon is an AP Psychology and an AP Human Geography teacher. Mr. Mellon is another teacher who has 
quite a few tattoos, all with their own unique story. Mr. Mellon has five tattoos, and while he did not always want a tattoo, he said once he made that jump to get his first one they became almost addictive. “The very first tattoo I got was stupid. I got it for my fraternity letters so there was nothing behind that one. The second one I got was the fighting Irish man over my heart. My father always wanted it, and my mom never let him get it, so when he passed away I put it over my heart. On my shoulder, I have a Big Ben and a sunshine; ironically, Mr. Houvie drew it for me. My son’s name is Benjamin, so Big Ben, and I call my daughter Sunshine, so the sun. The tattoo represents them, and as long as I am alive I shoulder their burdens, so that’s why I put it on my shoulder. This one, on my forearm, is the Triskelion which is the Celtic symbol for progression and ‘Bheith Anseo’ means ‘be here’ because I like the phrase ‘wherever you are be here,’ so I put it on my arm to remember that.” Mr. Mellon already has more tattoos planned, one of which will be a matching tattoo with his son when he comes of age. When Mr. 
Mellon was asked as to whether or not he would encourage other people to get a tattoo he replied, “My thought is this: some people get tattoos because they think they look pretty, which is fine if that is what you want. But to me, tattoos are supposed to tell the story of your life, so I always encourage my students to wait until you’re eighteen. Not that your story doesn’t start, but then you can think ‘is this definitely what I want?’ If I could go back in time, the one on my ankle I would have gotten rid of (his fraternity tattoo) because I was young and I was like ‘oh cool, I’ll do it’ and it doesn’t mean anything. But as long as something means something to you, then you should get it. Like to this day when I get upset, I rub the tattoo on my heart. Now that I am going through some stuff at home right now, and my mind wanders, I find during lectures that I reach down and touch my arm. So the tattoos are telling your story, and that I would encourage.”
Mrs. Gruman is an AP Biology teacher at Apopka High School. Mrs. Gruman has one tattoo on the inside of 
her arm. The tattoo depicts a lotus flower, and Mrs. Gruman explained her reasoning behind it. “It represents dichotomy, which is like life or death, because the lotus flowers close at night, which represents death, and they open during the day, which represents life. So it has that cyclic formation of reforming life.” Mrs. Gruman expressed that all of her siblings had tattoos themselves, so she felt as though getting her tattoo was almost a social pressuring from her siblings. She also let us know that she had lots of ideas for her tattoo but that it always revolved mainly around the same dichotomy idea. Mrs. Gruman enjoys the solitary aspect of her tattoo and said that she probably would not be getting another one.
Mr. Cintron is an ESOL teacher at Apopka High School, and his tattoo covers his back completely. What started as one small tattoo transformed into a large work of art as Mr. Cintron decided to add more and more to it. When asked what his idea was behind his tattoo he responded, “I just think they’re cool. I love all art and I have always been very much into art, so I feel like tattoos are the ultimate artistic expression. Also, there are tribal factors behind it. Some of my tattoos are specific to my tribe; there is a tribal factor to them.” Mr. Cintron talked about how his back piece came to be: “My first tattoo started as a small one, and it was a tribal piece. I went small because it was my first, and I always regretted it being small. I did not necessarily add to it but I expanded on the concept, and that concept became my back piece. So it started as a tribal representation of Atabay, which is mother earth. It is a simple pictograph and I expanded on that theme and I basically illustrated all the things that Mother Earth means. I married elements of modern, and contemporary artistic approach of lines and shade. But then I incorporated traditional Taino tattooing in it. So that expanded into the picture that is the back piece. So you have the women who has the wings which shows that she is all life. She is women, she’s bird, and she is all life. It is also a double entendre because ‘Is she a devil?’ ‘Is she an angel?’ ‘Or is she a shapeshifter?’ So playing with those motifs, and she is what traditional Taino tattooing looks like. Then if you notice it is day and it’s night, which is to represent the fluidity of time and how there is only the ever-present now. So all of that came from that first tattoo that I wish was bigger.” All of Mr. Cintron’s tattoos are extremely meaningful to him and his culture, and he could tell a story about every single one of his tattoos, but what he let The Blue and White know is that one of his reasons for all of his tattoos are that they are just extremely cool.
While tattoos may not be for everybody, you can’t deny that they certainly are an art. The stories they hold and the memories they stand for make them so much more meaningful than what some people try to pass them for. But what’s so cool about tattoos is that there really is so much you can do with them. We see from the teachers at Apopka that tattoos could be something fun that you just happen to really like, or they can hold the stories of your life.