Never say it's impossible.
That was the theme of former Disney Imagineer Mark Hickson's speech Monday night at Orange & Brew.
The event took place at 8 p.m., and it concluded the Reitz Union Board's Disney Week festivities, said Victoria Jeter, director of lectures and comedians for the Reitz Union Board Entertainment.
About 100 people came out to hear Hickson, who spoke on the challenges he faced as an Imagineer.
When looking for a speaker, Jeter stumbled upon Hickson's blog and was impressed by his work with Disney.
"Mark had dreamed of becoming an Imagineer all his life," she said.
As an Imagineer, Hickson has done more than 30 projects with Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World.
Each project, Hickson said, taught him that anything was possible.
"When you're faced with obstacles that seem impossible, you're strengthened by those experiences," he said.
Hickson, who drew his own maps of Disney World in third grade, highlighted 17 different Imagineers in his speech. Those people ranged from creative directors and model makers to show producers and ride engineers.
Political science alumna Ashley Kecskes said she's always dreamed of working at Disney. Her hope, she said, is to go back to school and study mechanical engineering.
"I want to be a creative designer and design new rides," she said.
Electrical engineering freshman Matthew Wener said he knows there will be a lot of challenges in the road ahead as an engineering student. He hoped Hickson's message would encourage him and other students to work through those obstacles.
Jeter said she hoped Hickson's message had a positive impact on students.
"You can always try," she said. "That's definitely something that I would want people to get out of it."
Looking back at his experience, Hickson recalled the moment he found out his dream of becoming a Disney Imagineer was about to become reality.
"I think I had a little pixie dust in my veins," he said.
