--- description: Halima Aden made history over the weekend by wearing a burkini and hijab during the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. title: Teen Makes History by Wearing a Burkini at the Miss Minnesota USA Pageant image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a4195e24a5a11f4/6988afc9656a3f857bbcdfa0/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Teen Made History by Wearing a Burkini at the Miss Minnesota USA Pageant by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2016 12:54 PM CUT  In this Nov. 11, 2016, photo provided by Alishba Kazmi, Halima Aden poses for a photo at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn. In this Nov. 11, 2016, photo provided by Alishba Kazmi, Halima Aden poses for a photo at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn.Alishba Kazmi—AP by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2016 12:54 PM CUT Halima Aden [made history](http://www.usatoday.com/videos/life/people/2016/11/28/first-hijab-wearing-woman-miss-minnesota-pageant/94534584/ "undefined") over the weekend by [wearing a burkini and hijab](http://mashable.com/2016/11/28/teen-burkini-miss-minnesota/?utm%5Fcid=hp-hh-sec#tLxSkZQiY8qI "undefined") during the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. The competition saw a series of firsts from the 19-year-old, who became the first fully-covered Muslim woman in the contest, and the first contestant to wear the burkini during Sunday’s semi-final swimsuit round. The teenager, who was born in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to the U.S. at the age of six, did not win the pageant, but she told [CBS](http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/11/27/halima-aden-makes-semifinals-of-miss-minnesota-pageant/ "undefined") that she hopes her participation helped combat misconceptions about Islam. “For a really long time I thought being different was a negative thing. But as I grew older, I started to realize we are all born to stand out, nobody is born to blend in,” Aden told CBS. “How boring would this world be if everyone was the same?” > [](https://twitter.com/ByLizSawyer/status/802706552696274944) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4583252/halima-aden-miss-minnesota-usa-hijab-burkini/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4583252/halima-aden-miss-minnesota-usa-hijab-burkini/"},"headline":"This Teen Made History by Wearing a Burkini at the Miss Minnesota USA Pageant","datePublished":"2016-11-28T12:54:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:00:02.007Z","description":"She hopes it combats misconceptions about Islam","url":"https://time.com/4583252/halima-aden-miss-minnesota-usa-hijab-burkini/","keywords":["faith","Religion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a4195e24a5a11f4/6988afc9656a3f857bbcdfa0/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a4195e24a5a11f4/6988afc9656a3f857bbcdfa0/halima-aden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ONE TIME USE","caption":"Miss Minnesota USA Muslim Contestant","creditText":"Alishba Kazmi—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4583252/halima-aden-miss-minnesota-usa-hijab-burkini/","name":"This Teen Made History by Wearing a Burkini at the Miss Minnesota USA Pageant"}}]}] ```