Teen Takes Graffiti Insult Turns It Into GOLD

When life gives you lemons, go get in your bikini! Carleigh O’Connell learned that someone had sprayed-painted a derogatory term about her in a public place, so what did she do? Get all sad and mad? No, far from it.

O’Connell, 14, a New Jersey teen from a sleepy seaside town, heard through the grapevine that the words “carleighs ass” had been tagged on a cement block in her town.

So how did she react?

“I wanted to show whoever decided to write that that I was stronger than that,” O’Connell told the media. “It didn’t impact me at all. I didn’t put my head down. I didn’t cry about it. I didn’t give the kids the power they wanted.” Rather than allowing sadness or anger to overtake her, O’Connell decided to embrace the words in an uncommonly triumphant manner. The resident of Wall — just a few Thunder Roads south of Bruce Springsteen’s old haunt, Asbury Park — found the cement block in question, hopped atop it, posed with her bikini bottom facing the camera, turned her head around, and offered the world a smile for the ages. source

 
O’Connell’s mom was so awestruck by her daughter’s bold move that she posted the photo to her Facebook page.