How often does ‘Sponge Bob’ and ‘Stanford’ come up in the same sentence?

Answer: very rarely, if ever. But for Manteca High senior Solman Aniss that was the thrilling moment he learned of the great news of being accepted to the college of his choice.

He’s the third MHS product bound for Stanford University in consecutive years. The others were DeAngelo Caldera (2018) and Lejla Pepic (2017), according to Principal Frank Gonzales.

Aniss, of course, had his TV tuned into the popular Cartoon Network show on Dec. 7 while videoing his “Stanford Early Action Reaction” on YouTube.

On Wednesday, he officially signed on the dotted the line, making it official of becoming a Cardinal in the fall.

“No, I haven’t visited the campus as of yet – I did go there once to watch tennis,” said Aniss, who plans to attend Stanford’s Admit Weekend 2019 scheduled for April 25 through 27.

He does know Caldera and Pepic.

“They showed me that it’s reasonably possible to go (to Stanford) from here,” Aniss said during his special signing day at the MHS library.

Those who supported him throughout the years – included were his mother, Sara Shafy, and brothers Mostafa and Yaseen, teachers, administrators, and friends – shared the moment.

“I worked hard but these are the people who made this possible,” Aniss added.

For the past four years, he played tennis for the Buffaloes under coach Frank Fontana and was on Academic Decathlon with advisor Michael McCollough.

In the classroom, he had overall weighted grade point average of 4.46.

Aniss believes all that and more made possible his acceptance to Stanford.

He’s also happy to be in the comfortable Bay Area climate rather than that of a cold-weathered East Coast college.

As for now, his intended major is Bio Engineering with plans of becoming a cardiologist.

“As an educator, I’m proud of students (like Aniss) who put enjoy putting in the hard work to get to the place of their choice,” Gonzales said.

To contact reporter Vince Rembulat, e-mail vrembulat@mantecabulletin.com