Upon walking into Claire’s, one can be overwhelmed by the amount of pre-teen fads stuffed into a storefront with extremely little square footage. This is what I was thinking while walking into Claire’s to get my ears pierced recently. Claire’s doubles as a store and “piercing parlor.”

So I couldn’t possibly be nervous walking into such a place filled with pink and sparkly items. However that would be a lie.

“Count to three,” I tell the woman, marking up my ear. For those who have multiple piercings, you probably find this quite funny.

Three…two…one…. Clutching the small brown teddy bear given to me by the woman about to pierce my ears, I braced myself for the pain. Except it doesn’t really hurt at all. I let out a sigh of relief.

Altogether, I have five piercings, all located on my ears: two on my right lobe, two on my left, and a cartilage piercing. Piercings have been around for thousands of years, and since then, have become a major part of mainstream Western culture. It seems like nowadays at South, it’s difficult to find girls, specifically, without piercings. While it’s less common with guys, many still subscribe to this type of body modification.

Piercings are a form of self-expression, and can be used to make a statement. People tend to perceive piercings as cool or edgy accouterments.

Oftentimes, we don’t give too much thought about piercings and why people get them; they just become part of the ubiquitous montage of students trying to be similar or different than one and other. Most of the time it’s, “Oh hey, did you get your cartilage pierced? It looks so cool!” For some, they can simply be aesthetic, but for others, they get their piercing for a more meaningful reason.

They can be a right of passage or a way to assert your independence and have control over your body.

I know what you’re thinking: how can a colorful stud from Claire’s hold a deeper meaning? It can be a step in a new direction, starting something new, or to enhance certain features.

My area of concentration is just the ear. Personally, that’s about as far as I’ll go with piercings. However, a lot of people tend to get nose, belly button, tongue, eyebrow, etc. On a scale of basic to extreme, I feel ear piercings are at the lower end. The reality is, piercings are a very popular commodity in the high school setting and they are here to stay. It’s your body, and you should get pierced whatever you wish, and people just have to deal with it. The only person who matters is you, and what you think.

My grandma has a nose ring, along with eight earrings on each ear. Ever since I was younger, I always thought she was the most astonishing person ever for that very reason. I first got my ears pierced at six years old, although I don’t really remember it. Since then, I have gotten a few more ear piercings. The experience is different for everyone. In my experience, all you feel is a little pinch on your ear and then it’s done.

Whether you go to Claire’s or an actual tattoo parlor, whether it’s your nose, ears, belly button, or you fill in the blank, it depends on you. It shouldn’t matter what you get pierced, because no one else should care except for you. You are the ultimate judge after all.

Bottom line: piercings can look very pretty. Yes, there are certain areas people get pierced that make me wonder why they chose to have it done. Sure, some people get parts of the body pierced that are questionable to me. Come on, I had to go there some time. Who am I to judge? As long as you want it and you will like it, more power to you.