Charley’s unsolicited weekly take on the uni topics no one else dares to mention…
You’re probably starting to notice that throughout the year, your friend group progressively start wearing short sleeves, revealing fresh artwork on their arms that everyone crowds around to see. That feeling, I’ll tell you, is contagious.
As the waiting lists for mental health support get longer, deadlines approach and life gets increasingly dull: there’s nothing better than spicing things up with a new tattoo that you definitely can’t afford.
It sounds reckless, I know — but there’s something quietly cathartic about choosing pain on your own terms, not someone or something else’s, even though I’m aware of how much of a sadist I must sound.
What are my qualifications to speak about this? Does a micro realistic strawberry, a rib tattoo that hurt more than any breakup and a patchwork sleeve in progress count? It does to me anyway.
The tattoo scene, especially in Sheffield, is becoming tailored to the student population: with studios on every turn as you walk back from uni and a variety of artists and styles to choose from across the city: it’s just like body art pick ‘n’ mix! You can find a variety of tattoo studios specialising in being sustainable, LGBTQ+ owned and overall an inclusive and exciting experience that the majority of students cannot resist. And building a bond with your tattoo artist? That right there is basically your own therapist during your day session: listening to your ideas, inspiration and the suffering that has led you to voluntarily have needles poked into your skin at a hundred miles a second.
But seriously, being able to choose art, symbols or words to have on your own body is the ultimate form of self-expression: you are quite literally a blank canvas. Even if is a frog holding a dagger or a work reading a book (stay tuned for that one), it represents you and nothings cooler than that! Although a tattoo cannot heal every mental wound, the art itself will heal into the most beautiful unique masterpiece that only you own, and even if it doesn’t heal great- it’s iconic in its own way!
Your own tattoos could literally represent anything of your choice: a favourite book, film or lyric, a moment in your life you’ve overcome, a name, date, or a frog (please get frog tattoos they’re cool), but you quite literally have all the creative licence in the world, and that choice itself can instantly improve your mental health.
I don’t think your bank account is going to thank me (to be fair, overdrafts do exist for a reason) but take this as a sign to get that tattoo you’ve always dreamed about and become 10 times hotter than you already are (in my subjective but very true opinion).
Genuinely, you probably should still get some real therapy to deal with uni chaos, but a tattoo or ten definitely won’t make things any worse!
Come back next Monday for another column from your new favourite oversharer!
