Senior superlatives are nothing new; classes have been casting their votes for "best smile" and "most likely to be famous" since the invention of yearbooks. But students at Holy Trinity Regional High School in Newfoundland introduced a much darker twist on the already significantly judgey tradition by starting a poll on ask.fm ranking the "ugliest girl in school."
When Lynelle Cantwell learned her name was listed, she was rightly upset about the cyberbullying. “I felt hurt, like really really hurt. Not gonna lie, it tore me apart a little bit,' she told Buzzfeed. But instead of being sad and blasting "What Makes You Beautiful," which is what most people (i.e. me) would do, she spoke up and posted a thoughtful response to the take down on Facebook that went viral pretty instantly.
"I'm sorry that your life is so miserable that you have to try to bring others down...I may not look okay on the outside," she continued. "But I'm funny, nice, kind, down to earth, not judgmental, accepting, helpful, and I'm super easy to talk to. That's the same for every other girl on that list that you all put down. Just because we don't look perfect on the outside does not mean we are ugly. If that's your idea of ugly, then I feel sorry for you."
You should absolutely read every word of her thoughtful essay. And then you should print it out and put it on your bulletin board or inside your locker or anywhere that you'll see it and remember on the regular what's actually important.
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Her post has been shared 6,000 times so far, but it deserves so much more attention. Lynelle did her part; time for you to do yours.
