Tiny road trips and tattoos

The two-week mark.

When Labor Day weekend rolls around, the parking lot clears out and the resident halls are nearly empty. All the freshmen within driving distance anxiously wait for their last class to be over on Friday before stuffing their cars with dirty laundry and hauling out of Vermillion.

Obviously, I don’t go home on Labor Day weekend because I would be able to have barely 24 hours in my house between driving to and from my hometown Cody, Wyoming. But for anyone from Sioux Falls or even closer, they’re out of the classroom and on the road before the professor can say “have a good long weekend.”

Sometimes these three-day weekends are tough for me. There’s only so much Netflix I can watch and junk food I can eat before my eyes are watering and my pants are too tight. Last year at this time, my freshman roommate, Lexi, and I spent the Friday night of the long weekend binge watching Riverdale on Netflix and eating way too much Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Not to be bored by that, we also went to Watertown (which I had never heard of until then) to visit her aunt and of course do laundry and have a home cooked meal.

We spent the weekend continuing to watch Netflix and eating an embarrassing amount of junk food. We decided to return to Vermillion on the Sunday and sat in our dorm room all day on Monday, fussing over homework and pretending we were comfortable cooped up in our room all day.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Here we are a year later, and Lexi and I are the best of friends. In fact, this Labor Day weekend we traveled the great 50 mile distance to Sioux Falls and I got my first tattoo.

Sorry, Mom and Dad, it’s a college kid thing.

To say I was nervous for my tattoo is a gross understatement. I had let my artist take full creative liberty on the design, so I had no idea what it would look like until we arrived at the tattoo shop. I t tried to be as chill as possible, but I’m not that good of an actress. My appointment wasn’t until 6 p.m. that evening, so you can imagine I spent the entire day anticipating this milestone.

As we drove through downtown Sioux Falls that night, the nerves hit me like a sack of rocks. We pulled up to Vishnu Bunny (great name for a tattoo shop, right?) and had to enter through the back.

It was a little sketchy, but I was still feeling good.

Walking in through a dimly lit hallway, I thought maybe I should just turn around. I could do this another time, right? Maybe I’m not cut out to be an inked up individual.

I strolled into the shop and was greeted by an interesting mix of people, all of whom looked like they belonged there a lot more than me.

I met my artist and saw what she was working on for a design. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was picturing, but what she had drawn up wasn’t exactly it.

It takes a lot of courage to be real with a tattoo artist and ask them to redesign. Luckily, she was extremely understanding and so incredibly talented, it was no problem for her to sketch something else up for me. When she came out with new design, I fell in love.

I knew it was perfect.

Needless to say, I survived to tell the tale of getting my first tattoo. Here are few highlights from that memorable night at Vishnu Bunny:

1. Never get a tattoo alone. Bring a friend or two so they can give you their opinion, keep you calm, and hold your hand the entire time the needle is on your skin.

2. Don’t be afraid to speak up. If you don’t like the design, let the artist know. It’s on your body forever so you better like it.

3. Be confident. Being a freshman in college is a lot scarier than going into a tattoo shop for the first time, but if you look like a nervous dweeb, no one will take you seriously.

4. Your freshman roommate may end up being the person who holds your hand when you get your first tattoo, so appreciate him or her with all your heart.

5. Don’t go home every long weekend. Make some memories with your friends and do something crazy.

Last year, I don’t think I would’ve had the confidence or bravery it took to get a tattoo. It takes a lot to get it and once you finally do, you’ve got something to last a lifetime.