Ohio State students and fans’ dedication inked permanently

McKenzie Merriman
Thu, 16 Apr 2015 05:06:05 +0000
Campus, block o, buckeye leaf, Buckeyes, carmen ohio, Football, Ohio, ohio state, osu, tattoos

Noah Jay, a Columbus resident, shows off his Ohio State themed tattoo.
Credit: Courtesy of Noah Jay

Anna Holdren, a third-year studying history and political science, describes herself as the type of person to misplace small trinkets. When her mother offered to get her a class ring to commemorate her graduation this coming May, Holdren thought of something different.

“I don’t really plan on staying in Ohio … but I want to remember where I’ve felt at home,” Holdren said of her time at Ohio State. “And people get Ohio State tattoos and I realized that’s how I want to do that, and it would be really meaningful to me.”

The inspiration for Holdren’s OSU tattoo comes from her time spent as a student, working to become more educated.

Her current sketches for the tattoo involve a stack of books with history and political science on the spines, her two majors, with another book open to a page either with the Block “O” or a quote from “Carmen Ohio” written inside.

“I want to get it somewhere that it doesn’t show, not because of professionalism, but because it’s something that I did for myself,” Holdren said. “It’s going to be more of a personal thing.”

Christian Holstein, a fourth-year in marketing, has been a diver for the OSU team, and wanted to get a Block “O” tattoo that encompassed all the aspects of his life.

“Basically, it’s my life in one tattoo,” Holstein said of the three-dimensional Block “O,” which includes aspects of the peace symbol, a yin and yang sign and the USA diving logo.

“I plan on getting some musical notes down the left side of the Block ‘O’ once I sign my first record deal,” said Holstein, who performs as a DJ under the name Fallsteeze.

Other OSU tattoos come from fans and community members beyond campus.

Pila Manivong was born and raised in Ohio, but travels a lot between Columbus and New York City for his acting career. He said he wanted something to take a little bit of home with him when he’s in New York, so during his most recent trip home, Manivong got his own Ohio state outline tattoo.

“At first I was just going to get the outline of Ohio state and when I got to the shop, I thought ‘I have a better idea,’” Manivong said of his process of designing the tattoo with his artist. “It popped in my head that I wanted to not only represent where I’m from, but also the college football that I love so much.”

The final product of Manivong’s tattoo includes scarlet and gray stripes, a buckeye leaf and the phrase “the heart of it all!”

It’s not unheard of for OSU football fans to celebrate their favorite team by getting some ink.

Noah Jay, a 19-year-old insurance agent, has hopes of attending OSU in the future for criminal justice. In addition to being a dedicated fan of OSU wrestling, Jay said he knew he wanted to pay homage to OSU football in the form of a tattoo.

While browsing college football-themed tattoos on the Internet, Jay came across a half-sleeve tattoo dedicated to the University of Michigan Wolverines. This University of Michigan tattoo inspired the design of Jay’s OSU tattoo of a football helmet and a Block “O.”

His advice to fellow Buckeyes and fans considering an OSU tattoo: “If you have extreme pride in the best school in this country, then go for it.”