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Formula for fame: Obama, a selfie and a South Jersey teen

The South Jersey high school senior whose repeated attempts to take a "selfie" Monday with President Obama in Camden captured the Internet's attention has a very simple explanation for her persistence:

The South Jersey high school senior whose repeated attempts to take a "selfie" Monday with President Obama in Camden captured the Internet's attention has a very simple explanation for her persistence.

"I had to try to get a good one for Instagram," 18-year-old Julia Cappelli said Tuesday.

How else to let friends know you'd met the leader of the free world?

"I knew no one would believe me, so I was, like, `I have to get a selfie, I need proof of this,' " she said, as video and GIFs of her attempts to grab the perfect photo bounced around the Internet.

Cappelli wasn't even supposed to be at the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center. Not until around 10 a.m. Monday did she learn the news: Her father, Louis Cappelli Jr., a Democrat who is director of the Camden County Freeholder Board, was going to call her and her 16-year-old sister, Mia, out of classes at Collingswood High School.

Mia would be her father's guest; Julia would be in Camden as the guest of former Gov. James J. Florio.

Sitting in the third row, the Cappelli sisters waited for their moment. After Obama finished praising policing efforts in Camden, Mia was ready.

"My sister really wanted to meet him, so she was going to do whatever it took to meet him," Julia Cappelli said. They made a beeline for Obama.

"I was like, `Oh, my God, Secret Service is going to hit us or something,' " she said, laughing. "So then she runs and is climbing over chairs, and I just went after her."

Mia shook hands with the president - she has the video to prove it - and Julia quickly did, too.

Then, in the moment that would make her famous, she turned around, raised her phone, and smiled.

One try, then another. The third time wasn't quite the charm, so, as live news cameras rolled, she took a fourth.

Got it.

Perfect? Well, no, her face is cut off in the frame, and Obama is in the background talking to someone.

But her Instagram feed soon showed the proof she was looking for: Julia Cappelli and Barack Obama, together at last.

She's certainly happy with it.

"Anything with part of my body and Obama. Anything. Because then I've proven I'm near him," Julia Cappelli said.

And now that her image has gone viral, no one can refute her.

Julia, who will be a freshman at Coastal Carolina University this fall, said she was in shock at the attention and thankful her sister had been so adamant about interacting with the president.

She's not sure why she's getting so much attention - "I was, like, `Who would take the time to do that, shouldn't everyone be looking at the president, not me?' " - but is taking it all in stride.

Her father doesn't mind that his daughter is the one getting the spotlight.

"I thought it was pretty humorous and cute," Louis Cappelli said. "I'm happy for her because she's happy."

The freeholder ended up taking his own photo with the president behind the scenes. The traditional deal: a handshake, a greeting, a photograph. Not a selfie, not a viral moment, not Internet fame.

Maybe next time his daughter will give him some tips.

She'll be ready. Practice makes perfect.

"If I had a selfie stick, it would have turned out a lot better," she said. "But I wouldn't say I'm an expert at selfies. I do take a lot of selfies wherever I go."

jlai@phillynews.com

856-779-3220

@elaijuh