How does a teacher turn into a viral sensation overnight? In biology teacher Steven Wang’s case, as with most influencers, what looked like a one-hit wonder became something entirely unexpected. Wang’s first viral post was on Halloween, a handmade Cubone costume for his daughter. This post got 84K likes, but as Wang’s inspiration grew, the projects and views became bigger than ever before.
After the initial viral post, he’s had many more posts go viral. His most popular video was posted on Christmas when he made a life-sized gingerbread house for his kids out of real gingerbread. Another popular post was when he made Elsa’s castle and dressed up as Elsa, singing along to the words of “Let It Go” for his daughter’s birthday. He’s even been in talks of collabing with MrBeast to donate gifts to underprivileged youth in the Bay Area for Easter.
Since this sudden stardom, he’s found it harder to stay as dedicated to his work as a biology teacher. Unfortunately, he’s been conflicted about which profession he wants to continue to pursue. It may be sad to hear since Wang is a beloved teacher at Mills, but the odds seem to be leaning against us. Wang added onto the conspiracies, saying, “Your kids are only this age for so long, and I wanted to make the most of this chance to make fun memories and do silly things together.”
Teaching is of course still a strong passion of his, though he had a sudden spark of inspiration to create content of handmade projects he made for his kids and share his creativity with the world. According to him, he made this decision because this new side hustle is rewarding for Wang as both a father and a creative person. It allows him to create fun memories and projects with his kids, while influencing millions of parents to try new things.
For the past decade, he has been using his teaching skills to inspire students to pursue biology and other scientific fields, but this time around he is planning to use his teaching skills to inspire other people. “I might do a startup, I might start taking my teaching skills into holding workshops and classes for other dads to come learn how to build creative projects for their kids,” Wang said.
Though it would be sad to see Wang leave Mills, he is a great inspiration for pursuing your dreams and making the most of what life gives you. “It’s okay to leave what you’re comfortable with to go chase a dream you have, and it’s never a waste because you can always use what skills you’ve learned along the way to help you with the next chapter of your journey” Wang encouraged.
