Lifestyle Health Muslim Teen Becomes First to Wear a Hijab and Burkini in Miss Minnesota USA Pageant Halima Aden made it to the semifinals in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant while making history as the first to wear a hijab and burkini By Julie Mazziotta Julie Mazziotta Twitter Julie Mazziotta is the Sports Editor at PEOPLE, covering everything from the NFL to tennis to Simone Biles and Tom Brady. She was previously an Associate Editor for the Health vertical for six years, and prior to joining PEOPLE worked at Health Magazine. When not covering professional athletes, Julie spends her time as a (very) amateur athlete, training for marathons, long bike trips and hikes. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 28, 2016 11:41 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Halima Aden didn’t win the Miss Minnesota USA pageant Sunday night, but she made history nonetheless. The 19-year-old Somali-American became the first to compete wearing a hijab, and later donned a burkini during the swimsuit portion of the evening. The Muslim teen, who moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, after immigrating at age 7, hoped her platform would change minds about Islam. “For a really long time I thought being different was a negative thing,” Aden told CBS Minnesota. “But as I grew older, I started to realize we were all born to stand out, nobody is born to blend in. How boring would this world be if everyone was the same?” Michael Solberg The ambitious teen — who dreams of being a U.N. ambassador — wasn’t deterred by the lack of a road map for fellow Muslim women in the pageant world. “You don’t let being the first to do it stop you or get in the way,” Aden told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “When I see that there hasn’t already been somebody, I take that as a challenge for me to give it a try.” Michael Solberg Aden quickly made an impact on the Miss USA pageant, which is part of the Miss Universe organization that President-Elect Donald Trump previously owned. RELATED VIDEO: France’s Debate Over the ‘Burkini’: Highest Court Suspends Ban Aden emphasized that wearing the hijab is not a sign of oppression — it’s an important choice. Michael Solberg “The hijab is a symbol that we wear on our heads, but I want people to know that it is my choice. I’m doing it because I want to,” she said. “I wanted people to see that you could still be really cute and modest at the same time.”