ABC7 Star Scholar: West Oakland's Anthony Beron

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- This is the 11th year ABC7 has celebrated student achievement with our [url HREF="http://abc7news.com/education/about-abc7-star-scholars/25733/" TARGET="" REL=""]Star Scholars program[/url]. Each year, ABC7 recognizes seven Bay Area high school seniors for their extraordinary achievements and awards each with a $1,000 scholarship. Here's a look at one winner from Oakland who says keeping an open mind opened up his world.[br /][br /]Anthony Beron is a thinker, a young philosopher, and an aspiring journalist.[br /][Ads /][br /]This ABC7 Star Scholar recently graduated from McClymonds High School in West Oakland and will soon study journalism and aerospace engineering at Stanford University.[br /][br /]"Hopefully I can design more eco-friendly jet engines," he said.[br /][br /]When asked what it is about academics that motivates him so much he answered, "Well, one of the things that I value most about myself is my sense of curiosity. I think the best way to cultivate that sense of curiosity for me at least is through studies because part of staying curious is being open minded."[br /][br /]And it's that open mind that helped him blossom from a self-professed introvert to a social butterfly his senior year.[br /][Ads /][br /]"He wanted to be more involved in his surroundings," said AP U.S. history/African American history teacher Rashaan Curry. "He didn't want to come here, spend four years here, and kind of operate separately from this environment. And I just found that to be admirable[br /][br /][b]Dan:[/b] "When you look back at your academic career here at McClymonds, what do you reflect on?[br /]Anthony: "I reflect most on my friendships. I hope they will come by to visit me in Palo Alto. I'm definitely going to return to Mac to show my appreciation for the school and hopefully in the very far far future I'll maybe be able to donate something."[br /][br /][b]You can watch our ABC7 Star Scholar special on Saturday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m.[br /][br /]Do you know a change-maker in your community? They can apply for a $500 Summer of Service grant for their community project. Just go to [url HREF="http://ysa.org/grants/youth-grants/disney/[br /]" TARGET="" REL=""]ysa.org/beinspired.[/url][/b]