VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia physics professor is receiving worldwide recognition after a video of him teaching went viral.
David Wright teaches at the Tidewater Community College Virginia Beach Campus.
On Wednesday, his students wanted to show the world how much they appreciated the way he made learning fun.
So, they tweeted a compilation video of the experiments they recorded of him conducting in class.
“I had a good feeling because he’s awesome. I knew the people would love him,” said Kierra Brothers, who urged her classmate and friend Erica Church to post the video.
And, the internet did love him.
More than 22 million views and several national news outlet interviews later, Wright’s passion for physics has reached many across the world.
“I have a passion for teaching. I love my students. I have to be excited about it. I have to be excited myself. I figure if I don’t have fun teaching, I won’t have fun being here. But, to see it at this level, it’s crazy good,” Wright says.
The physics professor says he’s taught for 45 years at the campus since it opened. He could’ve delved into research, but his heart is with his students.
“He’s so unfazed. I emailed him that night. I said ‘I think I need to tell you something. I need to warn you.’ So, I sent him the link and he just responds ‘Thanks for sharing this with me. I’m able to do this thanks to the students,’” Church said.
Wright is excited that the video could expose more to physics and that in turn could change lives.
“If I can just reach a couple of people through this, it doesn’t have to reach millions, it can just be a few people that see this, who can say that makes a difference to me. I want to do something that I haven’t done before,” he said.
