Columbus,
February 17, 2016
I
attended an event held by OUAB, at Ohio State. The speaker was Mark Hickson who
an imagineer for Disney. His journey in pursuing his dream motivates me to keep
dreaming.
"I wanted to be an
Imagineer as long as I can remember. When I was in 3rd grade I spent an entire
day drawing a big map of Disneyland on my desktop. I had rendered every
attraction in the minutest detail. But my teacher caught eye of my masterpiece,
made me scrub it off my desk and then sent me to the principal’s office to get
paddled for my obsession. Mind you, I’m not really obsessed, but it seems that
I had a little “pixie dust” flowing in my veins even then. As a young adult I
tried to get hired but to no avail. So I eventually gave it up. Years passed…
and then one day I got a card in the mail. It was from Walt Disney Imagineering
(WDI) and it simply said, “We want to talk to you”. At that very moment I knew
I had the job I always wanted. That was the beginning of a seven-year journey.
A journey into imagination, creativity, passion, pushing the envelope, and a
lot of hard work with the most talented people you could ever find in one
place. I started on the Splash Mountain/Critter Country project at Disneyland.
For a year and a half I absorbed everything there was to know about the
production, construction, installation, and operation of a Disney attraction.
After the successful opening of Splash Mountain I was chosen to become part of
the Tokyo Disneyland Project Office. Over a period of four years we conceived,
produced, and with our Japanese partners, installed 13 attractions including
their very own Splash Mountain, Adventureland Treehouse, and Mickey’s Toontown.
I was a member of the high level policies & procedures team, corporate
synergy team, and new technology committee. I was also involved in contributing
to some very special projects including the “Aida” and “Beauty and the Beast”
Broadway Productions, Disneyland’s 35th Birthday celebration, and the
development of Tokyo Disneyland’s 5, 10 & 20 year Master Plan. I concluded
my Disney career working on the EPCOT development team and leading the S.S.
Disney Floating Theme Park effort. I couldn’t imagine working with a greater
team than at Imagineering during those years. I had the distinct honor of
working daily with true legends in their respective fields. And now that I have
moved on, it feels like I was part of a most special fraternity. The experience
challenged me, and changed me, and lit in me a creative flame that still burns
brightly today."
-“OUAB
event”-
Hickson’s
story reminds me how I worked hard in realizing my dream. When I was a child I
had a dream to go overseas. My dream was getting sharpened when I pursued my
bachelor degree. However, realizing my dream was not easy. So many people laughed at me when they knew
that I wanted to study overseas with my degree, elementary teacher program.
Some people considered this program as a less prestigious program that could
bring someone overseas. They thought that only specific programs can brought
someone to study abroad such as law, economic, and medical.
Within
the response that I received from my community, I kept my dream tightly in my
mind. And now I made my dream happen.
What
Hickson said in his talk also reminded me that we should not say something
impossible. Instead, all things can be really possible if we want to work hard
and put our heart on our dream. Moreover, we need to add our passion on it to
bring ourselves to become a total person who involve in our dream.
Since
I have made my dream come true. Undoubtedly, I will list my other dreams.
One
of the lists is go to Finland, France, and Maldives. These countries inspires
me to learn more about different cultures and relate them to the education.
Becoming
a writer and an illustrator for picture books.
Keep
dreaming because everything is possible as far as you have passion for your
dream!
