Belle Nicholas reflects on her year, moving forward
OCEAN CITY — Her official duties soon to be complete, Miss New Jersey 2025 Belle Nicholas was smiling as she tried to eat a cone from Kohr Bros. on the boardwalk in the mid-June heat before it melted. Then she went inside the cooler but noisy Music Pier to watch her 22 potential successors rehearse.
By the time most readers see this, Nicholas will be a former Miss New Jersey, grateful for the experiences the title opened up for her. She talked with the Sentinel during a rehearsal the afternoon of June 16, looking back at a year when she was able to spread her platform of mental health around the Garden State.
“I’ve had the most amazing year. I’ve had so many experiences that I don’t think I would have had without the opportunity to be Miss New Jersey,” she said.
“The most important thing to me was having the chance to bring more opportunities to the women that are coming after me,” Nicholas said. “It was really focusing on my legacy, so I’ve had the chance to do things I think were impactful.”
The organization had six Miss New Jersey Days of Service throughout the state when the young women would all volunteers for three hours, including at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and the Ronald McDonald House in Camden.
She met one big goal, starting a scholarship for girls related to mental health. The Mental Health Association of New Jersey donated $1,000 to be split into three scholarships that were to be awarded Saturday night, June 20, during the Miss New Jersey finals. The preliminaries were Thursday and Friday nights following a “Show Us Your Shoes” parade Wednesday evening on the Ocean City boardwalk.
Mental health is important to Nicholas. When she was 17, she experienced anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. Her community service initiative — Shout Our Struggle — is addressing those challenges and meeting people who have gone through them or dealt with them through someone they love.
She wants to let them know going through something difficult doesn’t define them and that there is hope beyond their experience.
“You can use it to rise above and to help other people,” she explained. “That’s been my goal this year, not just as someone who experienced it, but also as a future psychologist. I want people to know that recovery is possible and there are a lot of people out there that care.”
Nicholas grew up in West Deptford and went to James Madison University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in musical theater. After she graduated, she decided on her new path — becoming a psychologist — but needed a way to pay for graduate school.
“My mom suggested competing for Miss America and earning scholarships that way, so I got to blend my love of performing with my love of mental health,” she said.
That worked out. She earned $40,000 in scholarships and she just finished her master’s degree at Widener University last month and expects her doctorate in May 2028.
“Because I’ve experienced mental health challenges and I know how scary it can be to go to therapy for the first time, I want to be a therapist that can meet people where they are and make them feel comfortable,” she said. “I want people to know that they’re not alone. … I love helping people get better.”
This Miss New Jersey is no stranger to Ocean City. She has taken part in a few parades during the year and showed up Jan. 1 for the First Dip in the Ocean with the resort’s own royalty, Miss Ocean City Antonella DiAntonio, Junior Miss Ocean City Arianna DiAntonio and Little Miss Ocean City Harper Juelg.
“The most amazing thing about Ocean City is how community-focused it is and how many traditions are held here,” she said. “I’ve had the chance to participate in a lot of them. The first was Night in Venice. I loved that. I loved being on the boat and seeing all the houses decorated. That was super special. And then the first plunge; it was cold and it was something I never thought I would do.”
She added that she had so much fun.
“Meeting people here in Ocean City, you understand very quickly how much they care about the people around them,” said Nicholas, who was in Ocean City just a few weeks prior to help honor military veterans.
“The most impactful for me was the Memorial Day ceremony at the Tabernacle. I thought that was so beautiful and so well done,” she said.
Nicholas sang at the service as Miss New Jersey Teen Delaney Higgins accompanied her with American Sign Language.
Asked how she expected to feel Saturday night when she crowned her successor, Nicholas expected a mixture of sadness and excitement.
“I’ve had an amazing year, but part of the job of Miss New Jersey is finishing the job and that’s my last task,” she said. “That’s what I’m doing this week. Of course I’ll be sad for the year to be over, but I’m also really excited for someone else to have the chance to represent New Jersey and go to Miss America and meet all of the wonderful people that live here.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
Memorial Day photo by CRAIG C. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff