Kiʻilani Arruda (born 13 April 2002) is an American activist and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 2020. Arruda had previously been crowned Miss Hawaii Teen USA 2020; she is the second entrant from Hawaii to have been crowned Miss Teen USA.
Kiʻilani Arruda | |
|---|---|
 Arruda in 2020 | |
| Born | April 13, 2002 Kapaa, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Education | University of Puget Sound |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title |
|
| Hair color | Black[citation needed] |
| Eye color | Brown[citation needed] |
| Major competition(s) | Miss Teen USA 2020 (Winner) |
Early life and education
Arruda was born on 13 April 2002, in Kapaa, Hawaii.[1][2] She is half Filipino.[3] She has two siblings, one with autism, that led her to became an advocate for autism awareness.[4][5][2]
Arruda attended Island School in Lihue, where she was elected student body president and maintained a GPA of 4.0, graduating in 2020.[6] While in high school, she was a member of her school's varsity volleyball, swim, and track and field teams.[2] Prior to becoming Miss Teen USA, she was a freshman at the University of Puget Sound, studying molecular and cellular biology on a pre-medical track, with a minor in Spanish.[5]
Pageantry
Arruda won Miss Kauai Teen USA 2018, which allowed her to compete in Miss Hawaii Teen USA 2019, where she reached second runner-up and was selected as Miss Congeniality.[7][8][9][10] She later returned to the competition the following year, and was crowned Miss Hawaii Teen USA 2020.[11]
As Miss Hawaii Teen USA, Arruda represented Hawaii and won at Miss Teen USA 2020. Originally planned for the spring of 2020, the competition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and later held on November 7, 2020, at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.[6][12] She was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Kaliegh Garris.[13] Following her win, she became the second entrant from Hawaii to win the competition, following Kelly Hu who had been crowned Miss Teen USA 1985.[5][14][15][16]
References
External links
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