Everyone has a story, but chooses a different way to tell it.

At Naperville North High School, students take pride in their stories through fashion, art, music and countless other ways. However, some students decide to express themselves through a more permanent medium: ink.

A handful of NNHS students are committed to permanent tattoos. These students walk through the halls with a piece of their story inked on their skin, and all for very different reasons.

Senior Jimmy Ferrone has two tattoos. His family crest is on his side, and his grandmother’s maiden name is across his back. Both tattoos serve as a tribute to his family and everything they do for him.

“I have them so I don’t forget what they’ve done for me and what I should do for them,” Ferrone said.

According to Ferrone, tattoos have been a part of his family for as long as he can remember. Every member of his immediate family and many of his cousins have tattoos. Ferrone does not plan to stop at two, but said he has to be cautious. He plans to join the Marine Corp, and certain rules would restrict ink above the collarbone.

“I plan on getting my chest done, but only put to my collarbone,” Ferrone said.

Ferrone is not the only student with a tattoo to honor his family. Junior Bridget Gustafson decided to get a tattoo on the one year anniversary of the passing of her twin brother, Michael Gustafson.

According to Gustafson, the the tattoo is a part of the last note Michael wrote to her.

“Every time I see it, it brings me a lot of happiness,” Gustafson said. “It just really keeps his memory alive for me.”

In the coming years, Gustafson hopes to get another tattoo in memory of Michael.

“He wrote a letter to everyone in his life because, before he died, people were writing him letters saying how much he impacted them,” Gustafson said. “There’s a line in that I want to get.”

While some tattoos carry sentimental value, others are done just for the thrill of it.

Senior Veronica Storc spontaneously decided to give herself a stick-and-poke tattoo with one of her friends. She found the design on a ring that she owned.

“My tattoo doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Storc said. “It was kind of an impulse decision.”

In the future, Storc hopes to get a tattoo done professionally.

There are also many students at NNHS who plan to get tattoos in the future. Senior Megan Mraz already has a few ideas in mind.

“I definitely want to get a symbol that had come up in my dreams a couple of times,” Mraz said. “It represents good times and happiness for me.”

Mraz likes the idea of having a tattoo and the liberation of being able to make a big decision.

“I figured out that when I’m 18, I can get it without having to have my parents there,” Mraz said. “I just kind of decided it’s something I can do and make my own choice for.”