Last September, Perianne Caron registered for her first-ever pageant. Less than a year later, she found herself standing on stage with flowers in her hands and the Miss Massachusetts USA 2025 crown on her head.
“I didn’t see myself actually winning,” Caron said. “I registered in September, and then all of a sudden, it was June, and here we are.”
Caron, CGSOM ’26, was crowned Miss Massachusetts USA on June 15th, 2025. The pageantry newcomer then advanced to the national Miss USA pageant in October, where she represented Massachusetts alongside contestants from all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.
But Caron’s successes aren’t limited to the pageantry stage.
In addition to performing as a professional dancer for the Celtics’ G League team, the Maine Celtics, and serving as a volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House at Boston Harbor, Caron is a part-time student pursuing her master’s degree in finance at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to go [to BC], and I passed it up undergrad,” Caron said. “I still can’t explain that decision.”
Caron’s father earned his master’s degree in finance at BC, and for years, Caron imagined she might follow the same path. Yet, she chose a different direction, ultimately attending the University of Southern California (USC), where she studied communication and dance during her undergrad.
“I loved my time at USC, but I thought about BC all the time,” Caron said. “So it’s really cool to finally be back, and it’s a full circle moment for me.”
In addition to time spent in Massachusetts and California, Caron has also lived outside of the U.S. Growing up, she lived seven years abroad in Tokyo and Singapore.
Those years proved formative for her, explained Caron.
“It really gave me the exposure at a very young age to learn more about other cultures and see people as people first,” Caron said.
This lesson on people remained with Caron, especially in her work at the Ronald McDonald House (RHM), where she volunteers as a relief manager. The RHM is a non-profit that supports the families of children with serious illnesses by providing free housing.
“It’s a lot of…just being there for the families,” Caron said. “We are there to make their lives easier and give them anything that they need, be able to point them in the direction that they need to go, or just be there to chat sometimes.”
Olivia Brooks, the site’s House Manager and Director of Family Centered Care, works closely with Caron at the RMH. For Brooks, Caron quickly proved to be a dependable and caring volunteer.
“She was extremely dependable, which is something we really look for in our volunteers,” Brooks said. “She has the biggest heart and compassion when it comes to families and our kids that she sees when she is here.”
According to Brooks, whether she’s preparing an apartment for an incoming family or suddenly pivoting to a game of hide-and-seek, Caron is always the first one to jump in and help out.
Brooks recalled one moment in particular that she said captured who Caron is as a person.
“She was here working with the families, and she got to bring her Massachusetts crown, and she let all the kids try it on,” Brooks said. “She has such patience and kindness that these kids saw her, essentially, as a true princess.”
In the following week, Brooks recalls families asking her when Caron would come back.
“The kids were in such awe and admiration of her,” Brooks said. “She really just took time to be present with our kids and our parents, and that means a lot for the families.”
Kaetlin Parent, Caron’s coach for Miss USA and owner of KP Consulting, said that Caron’s character helps her to shine.
“Beyond her physical beauty, which so many of the women have, she’s so kind and genuine,” Parent said. “She’s just one of those girls who doesn’t even realize how amazing she is. And I think that that level of humility is something so refreshing.”
Due to her growing pageant experience, Caron’s confidence has blossomed as well, Parent explained.
“I think her confidence has grown immensely, and she’s become so sure of who she is as a woman, what she wants, the goals she has,” Parent said.
According to Parent, Caron’s confidence not only helped her earn the 2025 crown, but it also has been critical for her balance of graduate school, volunteer work, and the roles and responsibilities of Miss Massachusetts USA.
“When she puts her mind to something, she doesn’t stop,” Parent said. “There’s proof of that in her education and career, and what she’s done in the dance world and in the pageant world. She’s just so dedicated.”
Caron hopes to advance her career in finance and continue her volunteer work. Ultimately, she explained, her dream is to start her own business—a goal she feels her classes at BC have helped her prepare for.
“We have a lot of speakers that come in and talk about their business journeys and how they were able to grow companies to huge margins and great success,” Caron said. “That’s been cool in being someone interested in starting my own business and being more entrepreneurial.”
Caron said that she is still in the early stages of research, exploring ideas and learning as much as possible before launching her own business.
Through this process, Caron’s guiding principle is clear—one that combines the volunteerism she promotes as Miss Massachusetts USA with the business principles she’s developed at BC.
“I’ve been able to meet so many cool entrepreneurs, so many people doing really inspiring things, and also mixing business with philanthropy,” Caron said. “That’s the direction I want to head: using my degree to make a big, tangible impact in the world.”