“It has been a difficult journey since childhood, a vivid memory flickers before my eyes, and I remember how and why, I’ve become this way, the way I am today.”
Success and failure are not two but one. Both are obligatory in existence and demonstrate counterbalance; the excitement of success or winning is there because of the sense of failure that existed before. Mark Salisbury, an award-winning animation producer for Nickelodeon and a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in New York, credits his success to his failed attempt at NFL (National Football League). He is one living example, validating the eloquent quote: ‘That which does not kill us, makes us stronger’, he did not let his failure put him off. Lessons learned in sports, at the Northeastern University, had him ready for the times when the rubber meets the road.
He graduated from the Northeastern University in 1995. In 1998, he started working for Nickelodeon, bidding farewell to the dull days brought in by his failure at NFL. He has directed two very amazing, early-education, cartoon series like- Bubble Guppies, and Butterbean’s Cafe. He has won a Daytime Emmy for his work on Little Bill, in 2004, as an Outstanding Animated Children’s Program. But one achievement, he feels, outshines the rest and graces his success rightly is when in 2012 the Northeastern University inducted him in the University’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
However rough his path in life was, he knew better to call a spade a spade and not wreak havoc; his philosophy on responsiveness and ambition have led him to become the man he is today. And as Mark himself says, “everyone has ten thousand bad drawings in them, get them out as soon as you can, it’s the same in sports—at some point, everyone is going to fail. But if you keep practicing, eventually you’ll get better”. That’s good food for thought, keep refining and don’t forget to keep an eye for your dreams.
Magdali Kujur