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

Kristen Moser

American studies sophomore Kristen Moser was always proud of her grandfather. When he passed away in 2011 at 75, she wanted to get a tattoo in remembrance of his accomplishments.

“My grandfather was an engineer and he worked on the Boeing 77,” Moser said. “It was really huge that he was part of that project. It was the first airplane ever made just by computers.”

As a way to help her cope with grief, Moser decided to tattoo part of the airplane on her shoulder blade with a bible verse. 

“‘It’s John 16:33,” Moser said. “In the world you may have troubles. But take heart. I have overcome the world.’  It’s a reminder that I don’t need to worry about anything.”

Marina Vences

Journalism sophomore Marina Vences felt like a fish out of water when she came to live on her own as a student at UT. 

“Leading up to my freshman year, I had horrible anxiety, horrible depression and it was just a roller coaster of emotions,” Vences said.

Now, she hopes to raise awareness about mental illness through her tattoo: a motif used by Project Semicolon, a non profit organization that hopes to empower people with depression. 

“It’s a semicolon because a semicolon is what an author uses when they could have ended the sentence, but they chose to go on,” Vences said. “It’s a representation of suicidal thoughts. People with mental illnesses can chose to keep living.”

Valerie Reyna 

Education sophomore Valerie Reyna has always wanted a tattoo. When she moved to Austin, the first place she went was to a tattoo parlor to get a tribe symbol tattooed on her ankle to express her love for her family.

“Family is really important to me and I’m really close to my siblings,” Reyna said. “I’m the oldest of five. I’m like their second mother.”