Mikayla Holmgren, Down Syndrome Dancer From Minnesota, Enters Miss USA Pageant

GettyImages-539779448 — The top five finalists, Miss California USA 2016 Nadia Mejia, Miss Alabama USA 2016 Peyton Brown, Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 Deshauna Barber, Miss Hawaii USA 2016 Chelsea Hardin and Miss Georgia USA 2016 Emanii Davis, stand together during the 2016 Miss USA pageant at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 5, 2016. Getty Images

Twenty two-year-old Minnesotan Mikayla Holmgren will be the first woman with Down syndrome to compete in the Miss USA pageant, reports said Monday.

"Beauty is from the inside out. I'm happy and joyful, it's like beauty inside out. It's almost gorgeous," she told Fox9 after revealing her dream to win the Miss Minnesota USA crown.

"Mikayla is a trailblazer," Denise Wallace, executive co-director of the Miss Minnesota USA pageant told the Star Tribune. The Miss USA pageant is a part of the Miss Universe Organization.

Mikayla, a student at Bethel University in St. Paul been confident on the stage since childhood as she began dancing at the age of 6, and has also been involved in gymnastics. In 2015, she was crowned “Minnesota Junior Miss Amazing.”

“I want to do this, on my own and I’m really, really proud of myself,” Mikayla said.

Mikayla Holmgren '18 was on Sunday's @StarTribune cover, on @MyFOX9 last night, and more coming tonight. We're so proud of you, Mikayla! https://t.co/ylT8yMja1M
— Bethel University (@BethelU) April 24, 2017

"To have women from all walks of life truly be represented on stage shows that pageants are accessible for all and that beauty isn't a box that we can fit in," Jordan Buckellew, the director of Minnesota Miss Amazing, told the Star Tribune.

Minnesota Miss Amazing is a pageant that is meant for girls and women who have some disability.

"We're stepping away from the 'Miss Congeniality' vibe where everyone has blond hair and blue eyes. That's not what we accept or define as beauty anymore," Buckellew added.

Mikayla's mother, Sandi Holmgren, said: “She’s an ambassador. She’s going to be a leader and stands firm for others that maybe don’t know how to achieve things.”

“Hats off to the selection committee for taking a broader picture and looking back and saying, look at her credentials and say let’s go for it,” her father Craig Holmgren added.

The “Miss Minnesota” contest is scheduled to be held in Burnsville, Minnesota in November. Mikayla has already started practicing walking in high heels and has also been preparing for the interview that is a major part of the competition.

“I’m just really excited, it’s out in the world and people are going to know about this,” she said.