MIDLAND, Texas — The internet is a place you go for information.
"I mean, I'm just an ordinary person," said Andrew Sanchez.
But it's also a place where you can go from ordinary to extraordinary. Or in Andrew Sanchez's case: a town celebrity.
"I was just standing in line," Sanchez said. "Next thing you know, someone's tapping on my shoulder and they're like, 'are you Andrew from TikTok?' I was like, yeah, I am."
Sanchez, a Midlander, started posting on social media app TikTok in 2019 as a sophomore in high school.
Just by scrolling on his page, you'll learn a lot about him.
You'll find what he likes; from anime to manga to K-Pop.
"I posted over the couple of months and then COVID really took the world over and we went into lockdown," Sanchez said. "Of course, everyone had all the time in the world to have access to their phones. So I pursued it. They continued gaining popularity."
Sanchez currently has over 62,000 followers, all people who share the same love he does.
After the federal government announced it would be cracking down on TikTok users, that puts people like Sanchez's social media presence up in the air.
"The government is actually trying to ban TikTok," Sanchez said. "Which I'm actually kind of terrified for."
Despite the TikTok fame and brand opportunities he’s received, for him, it's all for fun.
"I really don't want to be known as an influencer," Sanchez said. "I just see it as a hobby and something that I love. I don't think I'm going to put it on a resume whenever I apply for a job or whenever I meet new people. I'm not going to just rub it in their face that, 'oh, I have this many followers. I'm all this and that like', that's not really my personality. I'm more of the quiet type. I really love to just stay home. I love my education. It's kind of weird to say this: I love doing homework."
So while Sanchez is growing his follower count, he's also growing his brain.
After graduating in the top 3% of his class at Midland High, he's currently attending Midland College.
And he owes it all to his roots.
"Growing up in a first-generation Mexican family, seeing my parents constantly have to work to provide and not being able to attend school like they wanted to, it really stuck with me ever since I was a little kid," said Sanchez.
In fact, in May, he’ll be the first person in his immediate family to graduate college.
In between all the posts and the scrolls, all of that could be gone.
But Sanchez knows this.
"Especially since social media is not forever," Sanchez said. "I mean at the same time, it was fun while it lasted."
But one thing that does last is the degree he’ll be handed in May.
To Sanchez, education is worth more than a million views.
Sanchez is going to school for business management and is set to graduate in May. His dream is to open up his own café called Natsu's Café based off an anime named Fairy Tale.