A student in upstate New York has won the right to have a photo of her posing with a rifle included as her senior portrait in the yearbook.

Rebekah Rorick, who attends Broadalbin-Perth High School, said she wanted to cry when the yearbook committee initially turned down her photo.

The picture Rorick had selected showed her posing while out hunting with her dog and with a rifle in her left hand.

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Rebekah Rorick, who attends Broadalbin-Perth High School in upstate New York, said she wanted to cry when the yearbook committee initially turned down this photo of her hunting

'My family has always hunted,' she told News10. 'It's something I do with my family, and my dog is my best friend.

'So I decided to put her in the photo. I fell in love with [the picture]. It's my favorite photo of all time right now.'

She denies that she was trying to be controversial and says she simply wanted to express herself as other students were allowed to do.

Rorick and her dad took her case to the Board of Education on Monday night and argued that the photo was no different from many other senior portraits that highlight student interests.

They were also able to present a 2012 yearbook photo which showed a past senior holding a rifle beside a deer.

The school board has a policy against weapons, but Superintendent Stephen Tomlinson said he didn't have an issue with this particular photo of Rorick.

Rorick denies that she was trying to be controversial and says she simply wanted to express herself as other students were allowed to do

'She is not holding the gun in a malicious manner. She is not pointing it anywhere.

'It's to me, in my opinion, a nice photograph of a young lady in the Adirondack region that enjoys hunting,' he told News10.

The board sided with Rorick and her father, and so the portrait will now appear in the yearbook.

'I was so happy. I could not stop smiling,' she said. 'I felt the board had a lot of courage. It's something I'll hold forever.'