How Miss Rhode Island North America Caitlin O’Neill ’18 gets runway ready

Caitlin O’Neill heads to Florida to compete for the title of Miss North America on June 28. In preparation for the big day, she’s logged hundreds of hours house-cleaning in six-inch heels, worked out daily with former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo’s trainer, followed a strict plant-based diet, and gotten her eight hours of sleep nightly.

O’Neill, who holds a B.A. in communication studies, has been competing in pageants since the age of 10. If she wins, this will be her first national title and her 14th crown.

Winning a national pageant has been a goal from the get-go, O’Neill says, but she is pragmatic. “It’s not about being a certain weight or a certain height,” the Wrentham, Mass., native maintains. Rather, she says, it’s who impresses the judges the most that day.

“I’ve learned to stay grounded and to set a goal for the weekend other than winning,” she says. “Whether I’m leaving with a crown or not, at the end of the day, it’s just a sparkly hat. But if I achieve the goal I set for myself, then I win in the end.” •