Senior Spotlight: Nassibah Bedreddine

Driven. Nassibah Bedreddine’s drive helps to propel her through her daily accomplishments and make her a stand out student. Bedreddine is a senior at Athens Drive and plans on attending University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Fall of 2023. 

“At UNC I will be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in media and journalism. After I obtain my bachelors degree, I then hope to achieve my masters degree in journalism at Columbia University in New York City,” said Bedreddine. 

Bedreddine has known that journalism has been her calling since the age of 12, and she has taken steps to extend her knowledge of the subject. She has even been recognized by receiving the Gracie Award, a highly esteemed award for women in media. The article that won Bedreddine the award was on the topic of inclusive sex education in North Carolina, an uncomfortable topic for some, but an important one nevertheless. 

“I got to fly to New York to receive the award. The article that won the award was for the WUNC youth reporting institute, where I was a youth reporter,” said Bedreddine. 

While Bedreddine works hard to succeed in activities outside of school, she also brings her work ethic into the classroom. Many teachers have noticed her hard work, one of whom being Shane Barry, AP Physics teacher. 

“Her work ethic is fantastic and it has helped my class function as a whole. The STEM Capstone class is project based throughout, requiring a high degree of communication and group leadership skills to be successful. Nassibah is very skilled in both of those categories, making her a great addition to my class,” said Barry. 

While AP Physics is considered one of the more challenging AP’s at Athens, Bedreddine enjoys challenging herself academically and striving to further her knowledge on a variety of different topics.

“Going ‘all in’ on a topic, project, or really anything is rare. Nassibah is often ‘all in’ and I’m all about it,” said Barry. 

Though Bedreddine chose the word “driven” to describe herself, she in fact does not have her drivers license. She jokes about  about her lack of a license but intends on attaining her drivers license sometime in the near future. 

“I’ve had to overcome a lot of procrastination, it’s easy to get in your own way when you’re trying to be successful, but sometimes it’s just learning to overcome those mental blocks,” said Bedreddine. 

Bedreddine makes many smile and laugh throughout her everyday life and excels in the classroom and she pushes herself to do better each day. 

“Her smile. That is what I will remember about Nassibah; her genuine smile that she shares regularly,” said Barry.