Tanijah Moore: The Girl with the Agape Tattoo

       

Tanijah Agape Moore loves her tattoos. In fact she loves anything that deals with self-expression art. While love is usually a strong word to most, it’s the perfect word to describe her approach to life since her middle name quite literally means “love.” 

            “Agape is Greek for love…the spiritual kind…it’s the highest form of love there is,” she explains.

            Born in Brooklyn, NY, Tanijah moved to Silver Spring, Maryland when she was 16 years old. The second youngest of five sisters, Tanijah grew up drawing, writing, and studied contemporary dance, which is a mixture of ballet and hip-hop, since she was four years old. Moving to Maryland has proved to change a few of her perspectives, such as her relinquish of her former vegetarian status upon moving to Frostburg because of the fewer restaurant and food options that were provided. The former city girl has adapted well to a quieter and simpler way of life, particularly the one offered in mountains of Frostburg.    

            “Whenever I visit [New York] now, it’s too overwhelming… going to school here has really changed my perspective on where I want to live. I definitely like the country life more.”

            As an English major with a literature concentration, Tanijah graduates this upcoming May and plans on completing the MAT program to get her certification to teach.

            “I wanna teach middle school. I’m too impatient to teach anyone younger than 12!” she says adamantly while shaking her head laughing. 

            The 21 year old looks forward to teaching her students Shakespeare, but admits that she has no real favorite piece of work or English material that stands apart from the rest; a peculiar and unique confession for an English major. 

            “I know, it’s very weird as an English major to not have a favorite piece of literature or author. I do like Shakespeare though, which is pretty clichéd I guess,” she laughs with a shrug. 

            Among teaching Shakespeare, Tanijah wants to impart more than the basic knowledge of grammar on her students and have a bigger impact.

            “I wanna be one of those progressive teachers that teaches more than just the stuff you need to know to pass the test.” 

            “Progressive”, among “love”, is another fitting word to describe her life approach. Dressed in a vibrant purple tank top with numerous stands of beaded braid bracelets stacked up her arm, visible tattoos, and a nose ring, Tanijah gives off an effortlessly relaxed “hippy-kid” vibe, despite her initial appearance of shyness. 

            In fact, any appearance of shyness immediately vanishes upon the subject of her beautiful tattoos. In the short span of 3 years, she has managed to accumulate 4 unique and meaningful artworks on her body. Her first tattoo was the word “agape” (which also happens to be her middle name) written in Greek along her rib cage. She also has ying-yang written in Chinese and a tattoo of a sun with a peace sign in the middle. The most elaborate of the 4 tattoos, is the one stenciled on the inside of her wrist. The tattoo features the word strength in Celtic in an intricate design with the Roman numeral 7 which pays homage to the 7 members of her immediate family. She claims that none of the tattoos really hurt, including her the one on her ribs (a location normally infamous for its high sensitivity to pain) and compared the sensation to “being scratched with a safety pin.” 

            When asked if she plans on adding to her body art collection, her eyes immediately lit up as she replied, “Yes, definitely!” Among her ideas for other future tattoos is the concept of a tree design with 7 branches; another tribute to her parents and siblings. She also expressed that she is definitely open to the idea of getting her one of her own drawings as a tattoo. She usually gets her tattoos in the summer, because it’s easier to have them uncovered to heal and admits that she prefers tattoos to her piercings, because the healing process is much quicker. All of her tattoos were done at a studio named, Ambrotos, which is located in Silver Spring. 

            “I really liked the art there, so that’s basically why I decided to go there.” 

            With her detailed tattoos and her calm and friendly demeanor, Tanijah’s outward appearance reflects her inner beliefs about karma and the universe. “I believe that you attract who you are…I try to walk in love.” 

            With a positive life approach, a love for literature, and a desire to teach, she is sure to make a lasting impression on any and all future students she encounters. She’ll be that awesome teacher that everyone goes to for more than just questions about the weeky assignment. She'll be the teacher they go to for advice and a strong word of encouragement. She'll be that successful girl, the one with the agape tattoo.