Ryan Clark

If you’d told me that I was going to fall in love at Conference, I would have said you were nuts. Yet from the moment I arrived at the hotel, I started falling love—with everything, every person I met, every smiling face I saw. There is an overwhelming feeling of camaraderie when you’re there in the thick of it all, surrounded by hundreds of people with the same goals and passions as you. It’s intense, quite literally. You can’t help but bask in the energy; whether it’s sitting quietly in a class taught by one of your piercing heroes, lost in a sea of beautiful bodies at the pool party, laughing at the banquet dinner or anything, and everything, in between. You will meet your idols, you will quickly learn that they are regular folks, and you will be able to call them friends when you leave—as long as you put yourself out there. You will be challenged both physically and emotionally, especially when you’re sleep deprived and when you’re saying goodbyes. I never knew how difficult leaving somewhere could be until I was walking out of the hotel lobby for the last time, but it couldn’t have been more worth it.

I have the Al D. Scholarship to thank for the entire experience. The scholarship program is an amazing thing because beyond just helping those with financial difficulties, it puts people together. I ended up working closely with people I’d never met and probably never would have, if not for the program. These people became my family. For example, I am not a morning person, but I was up at seven or eight in the morning every day with bells on. Once I realized how short my time with these people was, I found it difficult to do anything but spend it with them, regardless of how tired or hungry I was. I miss them all terribly, and have since the second we were in different area codes. These are people whose progress I now follow with sincere care. I am legitimately happy for their successes, and sad when they struggle. It was a profoundly intimate experience, much more so than I ever expected, and if you’re anything like me you’ll be crying your eyes out when it comes time to start saying your goodbyes.

While it was absolutely amazing to learn from so many respected and talented piercers, it was even more incredible to just be able to hang out with them. I can’t imagine a better place to network and make friends as a piercer. Any time I found myself near a stranger with piercings, striking up conversation was effortless. (In most any other situation I’d be apprehensive.) I quickly got used to the ol’ “what’s your name, where do you work” icebreaker. I quickly picked up on the fact that I’d be learning a lot outside the classrooms, and some of the coolest tips and tricks I learned came from chatting with people after classes, or by the bar.

As cliché as it sounds, I think I learned more about myself than I did about piercing. I gained more than just some new information and techniques. I was able to meet piercers local to me who I had been too shy to seek out previously. I was shown how easy it can be to make friends and get along with people, thanks to the volunteer crew and the amazing woman who coordinates them. I came home with renewed ambition and a whole bunch of new friends from all around the world. I was reminded that there are people that will easily love the heck out of you for exactly who you are. Though leaving was one of the most emotionally trying things I’ve ever done, for many reasons, being able to go was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me.