Well, there's a new mentoring program over in Brooklyn
and it's unorthodox to say the least
There have been people in my life
who have believed in me
more than I've believed in myself
What I'm trying to do with this project
is give a kid that feeling
I kind of signed up blindly
when Scott put up the Instagram post
Once I got the email explaining what it was for
and connecting with the kids like I was all in
Like immediately
Everything just came out of the blue
We're gonna meet this tattoo artist
I got pretty excited
But then we came here
I think everybody was just like flabbergasted
I think we're dealing with young people
who have seen many unfortunate things
Who have been exposed to harsh realities
that some people are not exposed to
One thing I love that Scott said was
"I want them to know that someone's always got their back"
Door please!
I knew he was gonna be making designs
and putting tatts on mentors
but I did not know he was gonna do our names
When you do that it's supposed to be somebody you know
something that means a little bit more
No offense, I know I'm in the false secure
of youth and everything
We don't know these people so nothing can really go wrong
and it's actually just leaving this bridge open for us to know them
and to just be there and know that somebody cares
It makes perfect sense
When she was first getting it, I thought she was insane
but after it seemed like I had a real connection with her
I really didn't know what to expect coming in, honestly
I kinda approached it like just meeting somebody new
All my tattoos are meaningful and I got her name
on my left arm that's connected to another tattoo I have
I got it to represent, like, never lose that kid inside of you
You can never say that nobody is thinking about you
and thinking about the ideas that you shared with somebody
It will remind me that I'm not the only person in this world
I'm not the only person with problems
I'm not the only person that's been through things
and I'm not the only person that has dreams and has aspirations
I mean here you have a random stranger
Someone they've never seen before in their life
and they'll most likely never see again
giving a piece of their physical selves
to the idea of just believing in someone
They don't really know who we are
We're spending a couple of hours with them
but everyday when I get dressed
I can look at whatever name is on me and say:
"I believe in somebody, I believe in an entire generation"
I think looking at Devin's name
I'll always remember that he was 16 and I was 38
and when five years go on I'll know that he's 21 and I'm 43
and I think I will wonder about him
because I think he has such compassion
and such a thoughtful way about him
I think he can make a truly meaningful difference
I might get Stella's name tattooed on me when I turn 18
She got my name tattooed on her
she believed in me and I believe in her