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My name is Alena Wong and I am a senior at Washington State University majoring in Business with a focus in Marketing. I’ve always had a passion for tattoos. Once I turned 18 and was allowed to get it legally, I dived in and got my first tattoo and it was a big one. I finished with my half sleeve after about 4 -5 hours without even acknowledging the thought of what my parents would think. They didn’t talk to me for weeks until I was leaving for college and not wanting to leave on bad terms, they accepted what I’ve done. Growing up, tattoos in my family have always been known to be associated with gang members or prisoners. Only a few of my family members had tattoos and they were looked down upon as being unintelligent, irresponsible and unsuccessful. I didn’t want those characteristics to define my tattoo and I knew I was nothing close to those descriptions. More than 5 years later, still more than half of my family is unaware that I have tattoos. I’m not ashamed of my tattoos nor do I regret getting them, but I am never going to show the family that I know wouldn’t want to see it because I respect them enough to know that our generation and theirs have many different views on things.