After browsing scores of Pinterest boards for tattoo ideas, senior Ashley Stahmer made a monumental decision that she had been dreaming of since her freshman year. For her 18th birthday last November, Stahmer visited Players Ink in San Jose and received her first tattoo: an off-centered, black Scorpio constellation on her inner right wrist.

For Stahmer, this decision was a way for her to express her personality and her love for astrology. “Most people [would] be like, it’s a constellation at first glance, but once I’m able to explain it, people can kind of get more [of a] sense of who I am as a person, instead of just surface value,” Stahmer said. “I also am really into astrology and am also a Scorpio.”

Although Stahmer was uneasy at first, her good-humored tattoo artist calmed her nerves. “My tattoo artist was so funny when I was getting the tattoo and said that I already have seven piercings, and since I’m an athlete, I’ll probably deal with it better than most people,” she said. “He was like, ‘You need to breathe,’ and because I was sitting on a swirly stool, he was like, ‘If you pass out on me, I am going to laugh at you before I help you.’”

Stahmer did not receive any judgment from her family or peers after getting her tattoo. “I got my mom to go with me, and she really supported my decision,” she said. “My friends asked me questions about it at school, and they think it’s really cool.”