A&E Editor
When Zach Dauksz was growing up, he knew he wanted tattoos.
“When I was younger, I told myself I wanted them everywhere,” said the freshman.
After he matured and started to understand that getting a tattoo was for life, the Cape Cod native decided to focus his young obsession with tattoos on getting some positive and meaningful ink.
Three tattoos later, Dauksz is a poster child for meaningful tattoos.
The first tattoo Dauksz invested in was the word “Determination” scripted on his right wrist.
“‘Determination’ is my favorite word,” Dauksz said. “I live with my grandparents and I’ve had a lot of upsets in my family. ‘Determination’ has been a big word for my whole family.”
Fifteen minutes in the chair and $60 later, Dauksz was hooked.
After getting his first taste of the tattoo world, Dauksz moved on to bigger and better projects.
The second tattoo Dauksz decided to get was an angel with the words, “God blessed the child who can hold his own” on his bicep.
“That’s my favorite quote because it really describes me perfectly,” said Dauksz.
Dauksz also really takes pride in the angel that came along with the quotation.
“The angel has a lot of detail, and she’s not smiling or mad, she just has a blank face. I didn’t want a cheesy, smiling angel and I didn’t want an evil angel, so [the tattoo artist] went for the whole look of determined.”
If Dauksz had to choose a favorite, he would choose the angel and quotation on his bicep.
“I think the one on my bicep is my favorite because of all the detail and how much time I put into it.”
In total, Dauksz spent about three and half hours in the chair to complete the angel and quotation.
“[The tattoo artist] just dug at me for four hours. [The tattoo artist] was supposed to go over the wings and sun rays one more time, but after three and a half hours, I was about done,” said Dauksz with a grin.
After much time and money spent on the first two, Dauksz was ready to invest in his third tattoo.
For his third tattoo, Dauksz wanted to commemorate his mother in some way, so he decided to tattoo his mother’s initials, C.A.D., over his heart.
“I don’t live with my mom. Her life’s been pretty messed up,” Dauksz said. “So she’s always in my heart.”
One thing that all three tattoos bring Dauksz is peace of mind. Each tattoo represents something that he loves and has faith in.
“The one on my wrist describes my family, the one on my bicep describes me and the one on my chest describes my mom.”
Even though Dauksz has grown older, his passion and obsession for getting more tattoos is still there.
“I want to get the Eye of Ra,” said Dauksz. “I’m Greek, and it’s an ancient Greek and Egyptian symbol. It means safe travels, someone is always watching over you and good luck.”
Dauksz feels comfortable that he is now invested for life with these three tattoos and hopefully more to come.
“If had the money, I would just tattoo everything,” he added.
Gabby DeMarchi may be reached at gdemarchi@springfieldcollege.edu