Bochra Bendjebbar has the unique background of being Canadian, Algerian, and American.
Junior Bochra Bendjebbar gets started with her work for the Spartan Edition. Photo by Rachel Uyemura
What do Canada, Algeria, and America all have in common? TJ Spartan Bochra Bendjebbar.
Junior, Bochra Bendjebbar was born in Canada in 1996, but moved to America when she was four years old. Her parents are originally from Algeria, but her father came to America first, followed by her mother. They decided they then wanted to move to Canada, where Bochra was born. Four years later, the family came back to America for better opportunities. Once Bochra turned five, she went into kindergarten at University Park Elementary, and she later went to Merrill Middle School.
Bochra claims she doesn’t remember much about Canada, but she says she has dreams about the house she lived in, and about parties her family hosted. “Sometimes they aren’t dreams because when I look back in pictures, I say, ‘I knew that was real!’” exclaims Bochra.
All of Bochra’s extended family lives in Algeria. She says she loves seeing her family and spending time with her cousins, whom she rarely gets to see. Bochra and her immediate family only travel to Algeria once every few summers, just because it is so expensive. She mentioned her favorite part of visiting Algeria is being surrounded by her family. “It’s nice because when you live in America, you don’t have your family, but when you go visit them you are surrounded by them,” said Bochra. When the family arrives in Algeria, they usually stay the entire summer. The last time she visited her family was this past summer, when Bochra was especially excited because she hadn’t seen her family in five years. Bochra commented that she sometimes wished she could live in Algeria. “ I love being surrounded by people and by my family. In Algeria, you always go shopping with your family and you can just walk around and even eat with your cousins. I just love that,” said Bochra.
Back in America, Bochra describes her home as a “mini Algeria.” Her family keeps all the Algerian traditions, such as only speaking Algerian in the home, dressing modestly, and eating Algerian food. “We keep our culture at home. We speak Algerian all the time at home. My mom wanted us to keep our Algerian identity,” said Bochra, who says her favorite Algerian dish is Cous Cous. “But my favorite American food is lasagna,” Bochra exclaimed. In addition, Bochra enjoys Middle Eastern and Moroccan food, which is similar to Algerian food.
Next year, as a senior, Bochra will be the Executive Producer of the Spartan Edition, in which she will put together Thomas Jefferson’s entire news show. Radio and TV Broadcasting Instructor, Grant Laman selected her for the job. “You have to be able to count on someone and make sure that they are always here and know all the different jobs. If something terrible happens it’s still going to go down and get done,” said Laman. “Bochra was maybe one of the first to really understand every job and really wanted to jump in to learn it. She seemed to figure out how they’re all connected before the rest of the class.”
Bochra says she is excited to become the Spartan Edition Executive Producer. “I don’t really like being on camera, so I thought to myself, ‘How could you stay in the Spartan Edition without being on camera?’ and then I thought, ‘You become the main producer!’” said Bochra, who has been producing the show on her own for the final six weeks of the school year, just so she could get the hang of it for next year.
Laman believes Bochra will be great next year. “The first month will be tough because, although Bochra will know all of the jobs, no one else will know any of the jobs, so there is where some of the stress comes in. I think she will do great because she will know so much,” he said.
One of Bochra’s main reasons for coming to Thomas Jefferson was the Center for Communication Technology program that TJ offers. Before entering the CCT Magnet, Bochra says she was never really interested in computers. “I just wanted to try out computers because at first I wasn’t too into computers, but once I got into the CCT Magnet I found out that I really like all this computer stuff,” Bochra said excitedly.
Next year as a senior, Bochra sees her biggest challenge being her AP classes. She will be taking three of them (AP Chemistry, AP Literature, and AP Calculus), and she has never had that many AP classes before. “I want to try to maintain good grades and balance my time so I get good grades in my classes,” said Bochra, who mentioned her goals overall are to maintain a good GPA and just do well in school.
In her future, Bochra hopes to attend the University of Colorado in Denver and become a pharmacist. “I found out last year that I was really good at chemistry compared to physics and biology, and chemistry and pharmacy go well together,” said Bochra.
One day, Bochra hopes to live in France. “France is very similar to Algeria because France colonized Algeria, so they both look very similar. But I just like Paris because it’s more exciting,” said Bochra.
Bochra has international experience that many students don’t have. The fact that she is Canadian, Algerian, and American definitely gives her a unique background and makes TJ a more interesting place.
