--- description: Hijabi model Halima Aden opens up about being a Muslim American woman, her childhood in a refugee camp and how she is living the "American dream." title: Model Halima Aden on Being a 'First' to Walk Runways in a Hijab image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41be8f61ebafb875/698931bb656a3fe26fbd48f3/halima-aden-dafy-hagai-time-firsts-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jun 01, 2018 # Halima Aden by [TIME](/author/time/) ## TIME Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Portrait of Halima Aden, photographed in New York, May 10, 2018. Portrait of Halima Aden, photographed in New York, May 10, 2018.Dafy Hagai for TIME **‘Being your authentic self can break stereotypes.’** My first “first” came in high school, when I was crowned homecoming queen — no other Muslim student at my school had ever been chosen. For me to even be nominated, much less be crowned, meant so much. Students of color — especially the girls who are Muslim — saw that they could still have the American experience, and they didn’t need to conform. It showed that regardless of the [hijab](http://time.com/4682139/nike-commercial-women-athletes-hijabs/ "undefined"), if you’re kind to your classmates, they’re going to respect you and they’re going to want to support you. It was my first time thinking that I could have many other firsts. Only two years ago I could never find a magazine with somebody who dressed like me who was wearing a hijab inside. Forget the cover — just inside. The fact that I’ve appeared on nine covers in just [a year and a half of modeling](http://time.com/4680868/halima-aden-milan-fashion-week-shows/ "undefined") just shows you how great the people in this [industry](http://time.com/4690296/halima-aden-muslim-model-fashion-industry/ "undefined") truly are. And the narrative of what it means to be a Muslim American is changing. Muslim women are talked about, but we aren’t always invited into the conversation. It’s time for us to stop waiting to be invited to the table, but really just pick up our own seat and just invite ourselves. We don’t need permission to enter the conversation. People sometimes forget that just being your authentic self can break stereotypes. I was myself, and I’m seeing people’s views change around me. People will come up to me and be like, wow, I did not know we had this much in common. That just shows you how much we don’t really have Muslim women in the spotlight. We don’t really showcase all these incredible women who are doing positive things and who are a part of your community. We should all strive for inclusivity and to invite people who are different from us to hear our stories and to listen to theirs. Look at me: I was born in a refugee camp and I’m living the American dream, just like so many people who came to this country generations before. It’s really the same story, and I think sometimes we forget that. _Before breaking barriers as a fashion model, Aden became the_ [_first to wear a hijab and a burkini_](http://time.com/4583252/halima-aden-miss-minnesota-usa-hijab-burkini/ "undefined") _while competing in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant in 2016\._ TIME Firsts: Women Leaders Who Are Changing the World ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/firsts/5294427/halima-aden-firsts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/firsts/5294427/halima-aden-firsts/"},"headline":"Model Halima Aden on Being a 'First' to Walk Runways in a Hijab","datePublished":"2018-06-01T20:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:25:34.576Z","description":"Hijabi model Halima Aden opens up about being a Muslim American woman, her childhood in a refugee camp and how she is living the \"American dream.\"","url":"https://time.com/collections/firsts/5294427/halima-aden-firsts/","keywords":["Firsts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41be8f61ebafb875/698931bb656a3fe26fbd48f3/halima-aden-dafy-hagai-time-firsts-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"creator":"TIME","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41be8f61ebafb875/698931bb656a3fe26fbd48f3/halima-aden-dafy-hagai-time-firsts-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/firsts/","name":"Firsts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/firsts/5294427/halima-aden-firsts/","name":"Model Halima Aden on Being a 'First' to Walk Runways in a Hijab"}}]}] ```