One of the first things you notice about junior center Maggie Dumphy are the tattoos that peek out from her basketball uniform during games. Dumphy has spent about 10 hours underneath a needle for her six tattoos, which have roughly cost her $900 in total.

Dumphy got her first tattoo at the age of 18 and her most recent was three months ago.

“My parents are big tattoo people. My step-dad is completely covered: arms, back and legs,” Dumphy said. “My mom has around 25, though a lot of them are hidden. Growing up around my parents, [I realized] tattoos are normal for our family.”

Dumphy says that the tattoo on her left thigh of a deer, trees and birds is her favorite. “I think I like my watercolor one the most because it’s so abstract, it’s very different.”

Senior guard Cyndie Jones expressed which one of Dumphy’s tattoos she likes the most. “My favorite tattoo is the one on her arm. It says ‘love always dad,” Jones said. “The tattoo is in her dad’s handwriting.”

According to Dumphy, the tattoo on her bicep, with the phrase “stirred by grace, anchored by love” hurt the most.

“I was laying down the whole time [with her arm positioned back] and it was just tiring,” Dumphy said. “We took one 10-minute break, then just kept going.”

In regards to what her tattoos say about her, she explains that “they mean something [to me], and they’re significant and all are faith-based.”

Dumphy said, “It’s cool to just represent my faith and who I am as a person, but through art and through my body being a canvas. I like the opportunity that tattoos give you to start a conversation or to get to know someone and the meaning behind their tattoos.”

Senior forward Kelly Hardeman stated she loved Dumphy’s tattoos because, “they each have a meaning and allow you to understand her a little better.”

Dumphy also believes that her tattoos have helped in her walk with Christ in the sense of knowing that her story has a purpose and being able to share that story with other people, since her tattoos are such conversation starters.

Dumphy states that God created people to be unique and creative beings, and one of those ways is by showing art on whatever medium they choose. Her chosen medium is her body.

“You’re showing your story through art, it just so happens to be on my body,” Dumphy said. “It would be the same as a painting on a canvas.”

Dumphy does not regret any of her tattoos, because, “it’s always something that’s well thought-out.” She described the act of getting the tattoo as the only spontaneous part.

As for getting more anytime soon, Dumphy stated that she did not have any planned at the moment, “but that’s never to say that I won’t want another one.”

Women’s basketball will play against Concordia on Friday, Feb. 19.