SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A well-known teacher at San Diego State University is a getting a little bit more popular.
The video of communications professor Michael Rapp saying his farewell to students for the semester and their reaction is going viral.
Video posted on TikTok by student Faith Williams shows Michael Rapp saying good luck to students with their finals. Often the students leave their camera off.
“It was weird because all their cameras started popping on,” said Rapp.
And then slowly you see each student raise a printed or handmade “thank you” sign.
In the video Rapp is overcome with emotion.
“You truly have no idea,” said Rapp. “Thank you, Thank you. I hope I had as much influence on you as you did right there for me.”
Rapp has been an SDSU communications professor since 2001 and is known as Master Rapp because of his master’s degree.
Comm 245 student, Faith Williams, coordinated the thank you and e-mailed 75 students in the class.
“I went on campus and tried to email as many students as I could and I got so many replies that they were down to do it,” said Williams.
The SDSU sophomore said she was inspired by the viral teacher appreciation videos seen on TikTok.
“This year has been so devastating for so many people and especially for teachers who are not able to be in the classroom,” said Williams.
She posted the thank you video with Rapp to her TikTok. So far, there are over 800,000 views and more than 2,000 comments, many from former students who shared their love for the well-known teacher on Aztec campus.
“I was so overwhelmed and so excited to do it for him and his reaction made it all worth it,” said Williams.
Rapp said his sister in Texas has been contacted about the video.
“People contacting my mom in San Francisco saying, ‘oh my God your son and Michael this,’” said Rapp. “You hear about this but you don't think you will be a part of this.”
The irony is that Rapp teaches Interpersonal Communication at SDSU focusing on romantic and friendship relationships. Zooming for 16 weeks has been difficult to teach those connections.
“To see that -oh my God - I had that influence and I had that impact on them that they did this, it meant the world to me and it truly overwhelmed me,” said Rapp.
He said these are the moments that remind him of why he teaches.
“It's very sweet and it does mean so, so much to me,” said Rapp.
News 8 would like to thank all teachers and students for working through another difficult semester. We appreciate you.