Welcomed by the deafening sound of screaming fans, popular YouTube creator David Dobrik spoke at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) on Aug. 29 in Jones Auditorium.
Dobrik was brought to campus as part of a university lectureship series. During his event, Dobrik was asked questions by Shelby Purdy, the Digital Media Coordinator for the Office of Marketing and Communication at TAMUK. Dobrik also answered student submitted questions asked by the Student Government Association Chief of Staff Sebastian Vela.
Questions ranged from favorite movies to advice on fulfilling life goals. While answering, Dobrik had the audience laughing and would respond to jokes attendees yelled out from the audience. Along with Dobrik where his friends who star in his vlogs Jason Nash, Natalie Mariduena, and Carly Incontro. These friends joined him on stage and helped him answer student questions.
As soon as the university announced Dobrik would be speaking on campus, students immediately began to express their excitement.
“I was very hype. I didn’t want to really post anything about it because I didn’t want anyone to know to be honest [be]cause I wanted to be the first and I wanted to get a good seat so I could see him,” Chris Abrego, an Information Systems major said.
However, news quickly spread and young adults from all over Texas began to talk about Dobrik coming to TAMUK on social media.
Due to the large amount of people planning to attend, the event was only available to TAMUK students. Each student was allowed to bring one guest. The line to enter Jones Auditorium began at 5:00 p.m., and shortly after people were already being redirected to overflow in Peacock Auditorium where the event would be live streamed. Once doors opened, students raced to get good seats and began cheering to see Dobrik.
A few lucky students were given the opportunity to meet Dobrik and his friends at a meet and greet. These students won meet and greet wristbands through various events on campus, such as bingo hosted by the Office of Student Activities, and social media engagement.
Natalie Martinez is a Criminology major and was one student who got the chance to meet Dobrik after being tagged on a Javelina Nation social media post by a friend. Martinez has been watching his content since 2016 and enjoys laughing during his fun-filled videos.
“It was honestly surreal. I could not believe that he was standing right in front of me. I could not stop smiling, and I was totally geeked over him. He made it so easy to talk to him and approach him. You can tell he enjoyed just hanging out and talking with all us fans. Truly an amazing guy! It was honestly an unforgettable experience,” Martinez said.
Dobrik is an online influencer with a 13.7 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.7 million followers on Twitter, and 9 million on Instagram. He began his career on Vine but gained popularity from his vlogs on YouTube. Dobrik speaks on various topics at universities across the nation.
“I never got to go to university so any chance I get to go to university I really enjoy…I feel like the majority of people that watch my videos go to university, so I think it’s really cool connecting with the people that are paying my bills,” Dobrik jokingly said, “I feel like that’s the best.”