In the end, all you were trying to do was win the opportunity to appear in a magazine, which is your dream. It is overwhelmingly pathetic that a group will form to deny you of your dream, based on an egotistical misconception that their opinions are what truly define what is decent in society. The haters should get over themselves and realize that their morals are merely opinions. I don’t think you, nor any one else for that matter, cares whether someone shares your, or our, morals or not. Why all these people seem to feel that way is beyond me.

Ash, I did not know you before that night, but I am proud to have supported you. You have an unbreakable spirit that these other girls would kill for…if they were intelligent enough to properly prioritize what’s truly important in life. In the end, you are the true winner here. You may not get the shoot you wanted, but you got your votes from support. The winner of this competition won, due to other people irrationally casting votes against you, not for her. I’d take a loss with all my votes being from people who supported me, over a win from people voting against another contestant any day. I just hope that the winner of this competition doesn’t know of the circumstances surrounding that win. It would truly be a shame for her to feel like her win was tainted due to the real nature of those votes. She was merely a pawn in the game against you, and that’s not her fault.

Congratulations on your true victory, Ashleigh. The next time you run, we’ll all be back to support you once more.