PV senior ends accomplished career

The clicking of computer keys rattles as PV senior Nicole Beckemeyer vigorously types the last sentences of her opening statement. The thoughts come rushing out of her head as she develops countless ideas. Alongside her, Brian Sumereau prepares the team’s rebuttal. The two brainstorm together and look back at their pages of notes and research. Beckemeyer lifts her head to look at the blinking clock in her house and sees that it is 12:30 a.m. Sumereau and her have been preparing for this debate all night.

Beckemeyer is a well-known senior at Pascack Valley whose interests vary from the Debate team to being the coach of the fourth and fifth-grade cheerleading team.

Beckemeyer is involved with Pascack Valley’s business club DECA as well. She had a very successful career this year, placing first in the Advertising Campaign event in the state competition in February and competing in California at the National Tournament in April.

“I am going to be majoring in business so DECA confirmed for me that it can be something I can major in,” said Beckemeyer.

Beckemeyer will be going to the University of Miami, and she believes the clubs and groups she has been involved with at PV were all great learning experiences to help her grow in business. One of the many clubs that she thinks has assisted her is the Debate team.

“In order to be successful, Debate requires a lot of research and planning as well as flexibility and the ability to rebound and be stronger than before. Nicole embodies all of these qualities,” said Debate coach Mrs. Lauren Johnson.

Beckemeyer and Sumereau are the school’s Debate captains, as well as fourth place team in the state. The duo has won First Place Team three separate times this year and Third Place Team twice this year, in addition to many individual speaking awards. Beckemeyer ended her senior year with a Speaker Award at one of her events and the Coaches Award, which she received at the end of the debate season back in April.

“Nicole has an incredible ability to balance aspects of her life. One minute she is tearing down her opponent’s argument, then the next minute she is discussing weekend plans and AP strategies. She can accept a win graciously and a loss gracefully,” said Johnson.

Beckemeyer believes that Debate has helped her not only manage business skills, but everyday skills like public speaking.

“Debate has helped me to get involved, and has prepared me for things in my future,” she said. “The most rewarding debates are the ones that we have lost before, we study, we go over, and then we win.”

Beckemeyer also worked on the Scott Garrett campaign during the Congressional Race from June to November. Scott Garrett is a seven term Republican Representative. After starting in the beginning as an intern, Beckemeyer moved up in the ranks until it was a paid job for her. Despite the heavy campaign workload, she was able to balance her other interests with politics. Her main job was to advertise for the campaign.

Leading up the election, Beckemeyer was working noon to night in a hotel room in Paramus in order to be closer to work as the election drew nearer. Beckemeyer spent some nights up until 2 am working on calls, working with volunteers, and being swamped with other things to do.

“We had the office open [on election day] for all Republicans so that they could come in and see the results. This was for president, this was for local, this was for all of the results. There definitely was more excitement that Trump was going to win,” Beckemeyer said.

The work room for Beckemeyer and coworkers lit up as Donald Trump was elected president. As the remaining results came in, the atmosphere of the room altered once they began to realize that Garrett was not going to win. Either way, Beckemeyer still enjoyed the experience and was even congratulated by a New York Times writer for having professional advertisements.

Beckemeyer is still interested in pursuing New Jersey politics in the future and loves the competition aspect of campaigning as well.

Even though Beckemeyer is very involved outside of the school, inside of school she is just as involved and committed. With a full schedule of all AP classes, she manages all of her extracurriculars, goes to the gym and still has time to hang out with friends.

“It’s sometimes hard balancing my time, but it really prepares me for the future,” she added.