Brooke Conway 

Brooke Conway, a communication sciences and disorders junior, got the “whimsical butterfly” tattoo on her forearm 12 years ago while waiting for one of her favorite rappers to take the stage.

 “I was down there for a Z-Ro concert, and he decided to show up four hours late,” Conway said. “When we found that out, we realized we had a lot of time to kill, so I decided to get a tattoo to remember the night.” 

The tattoo design came from a sample book at Black Cat Tattoo. Conway said she took the original design and tweaked the color to better match her personality. When the tattoo was finished and Z-Ro finally showed up, he delivered a show that lived up to Conway’s expectations for the evening. 

“He was great,” Conway said. “He showed up and did an awesome show at Paradox. He killed it.”

Kayla Brown 

Although the wave tattoo on UT staff member Kayla Brown’s leg has a simple appearance, she is proud of its story. While living in Charleston, S.C., Brown jumped off a dock, scratching herself on some oyster beds when she pulled herself back up.

“I cut my leg and it left a cool scar, so I got a wave next to the scar to remind me about my time in Charleston,” Brown said. 

Brown moved from Charleston to Austin to work as an operations and development associate with Moody College’s Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, but her ink-complemented scar keeps home close to her at all times. 

Scott Rayson Briggs 

The tattoo on government and public relations senior Scott Rayson Briggs’s chest came from a thoughtful birthday card his dad wrote for him on his 18th birthday. 

“The tattoo is a quote from the song ‘Witch Hunt’ by the band Rush,” Briggs said. “My dad always makes really personalized cards for all of the kids in our family, and that quote he wrote in mine that year really resonated with me.”

Briggs said despite his dad not being the most emotional person, he was very touched by the tattoo. The quote reads, “Those who know what’s best for us rise and save us from ourselves.”

“While it has sort of fascist undertones, it also is kind of like a call to arms because you should always strive to do what you think is best,” Briggs said. “You can’t always do it for everybody, but you can definitely save yourself that way.”

Public relations senior Sierra Doll chose her tattoo during a photoshoot for her high school dance company’s brochure. Each dancer was asked to write a word with special meaning on a different part of her body. Doll’s word of choice was a no-brainer.

“I’ve been a dancer since I was 11, so my feet are my paintbrushes, and I feel most free when I’m dancing,” Doll said. “I’ve always connected with the word ‘free’ because of that.”

Doll knew she wanted the tattoo as soon as she saw it written in Sharpie onher ankle. 

“When I put ‘free’ on my ankle, I just fell in love with it,” Doll said. “I got it tattooed on me as soon as I turned 18, and it continues to make me feel free and in love
with dance.”