VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Video of Tidewater Community College Professor Dr. David Wright has gone viral.
Millions of people have viewed a video on Twitter of him teaching physics this semester. "Y’all need to see this video collage of all the crazy things my Physics Professor did this semester. He’s in his 70s and is still doing all of this for us," TCC student Erica Church wrote on Twitter.
Church emailed Dr. Wright about the video and told him it was going viral. "Thank you very much for sharing that with me. It was an amazing semester because I had amazing students," Church says Wright responded.
"I try to get them excited about science, not to just to learn it and pass the test," Wright, who's really 69, told News 3 on Thursday. "I want them to leave the class thinking, 'This is amazing. We can understand the world around us now!'"
Wright has been a professor at TCC for more than 40 years, according to the school's website. In 2017, he was named the Professor of the Year. Wright holds a PhD. in Physics from Virginia Beach. He's been married for more than 40 years and has children and grandchildren.
Even after all these years, his classroom is still full of energy. "I've got lots of energy. I'm very pleased I've got lots of energy," he said. "It's nice to know this energetic production makes a difference to students."
Church says the students began recording him from the very first day. Now that the semester is over, she posted a compilation but never thought it would take off. "I just posted it and it just blew up," she said.
Church and a classmate, Kierra Brothers, say they won't forget Wright's class. "I will never, ever forget this semester," said Church. "I went into the class thinking it was going to be hard, but he just made it so fun," said Brothers.
For Wright, that's mission accomplished. "That's the reward. It gets me excited about teaching them when I see their smiles," he said.
