Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Tat-Tuesday: ACL festivalgoers share stories behind ink

TATTUESDAYS0908_logo_MelanieWestfall
Melanie Westfall

Editor’s note: Tat-Tuesday is a weekly series that features students around campus and their tattoos.

Adriana Smith
When Adriana Smith visits her tattoo artist, she gives her complete control over the permanent art that envelopes her neck, arm and back. Specializing in mandalas and flowers, her tattoo artist freehands the drawings as she inks them.

“Whatever she wants to do, I just go with it,” Smith said. “I just sit down and let her freehand whatever she wants.”


The intricate mandala that sprawls across the center of her back has been a work-in-progress for two years. 

“I usually go once a month, and I sit for two hours,” Smith said. 

Rhiannon Aleman 
When Rhiannon Aleman first heard about Camp CAMP — a non-profit organization which holds week-long camping sessions each summer for adults and children with disabilities —  she thought she’d only work there for one session. 

But as the weeks rolled by, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

Last month, she wanted to remember her time there by getting a flaming star tattooed on her leg in honor of a weekly camp tradition.

“Every week we burn a star to reflect on our [time there],” Aleman said. “The camp sounded fun, so I went there for a week. I kept going back, and eventually I started working there.”

Destiny Pittman and Nicole Woods 
Best friends Destiny Pittman and Nicole Woods decided to commemorate their friendship by getting connecting puzzle pieces tattooed on their wrists. 

“We thought about it a long time ago and she brought it up, so I said ‘Okay, let’s go,’” Pittman said.

They originally met through a friend of a friend three years ago and now live together. 

“She completes me,” Woods said. 

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Tat-Tuesday: ACL festivalgoers share stories behind ink