Halima Aden is flawlessly breaking down
barriers in the pageant community: Over the weekend, the 19-year-old
made history as the first contestant in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant
to wear a hijab throughout the competition and a burkini during the
swimsuit round.
The Somali-American
teenager, who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp and moved to America
when she was just six years old, ultimately made it to the pageant’s
semifinals on Sunday. But as she told multiple sources both before and
after the pageant was over, despite not winning, she hoped her
participation would serve as a reminder that beauty comes in many
different forms.
“A lot of people will
look at you and will fail to see your beauty because you’re covered up
and they’re not used to it. So growing up, I just had to work on my
people skills and give people a chance to really know me besides the
clothing,” she said in an interview with KARE-11.
“Be who you are. It’s easy to feel like you have to blend in, but it
takes courage to live your life with conviction and embrace the person
that you are.”
