Here is the full transcript of Arda Ocal’s talk titled “I Draw Real World Inspiration From Things I Use to Escape from the Real World” at TEDxUW 2024 conference.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Finding Inspiration in Escaping Reality
I draw real-world inspiration from the things I do to escape the real world. Let me say that again, I find real-world inspiration from the things I do to escape the real world. If I am in the course of having fun, I am fundamentally motivated. If I check my brain at the door, I find myself wanting to get my life in check.
Now that sounds like the opposite of how to do it, right? Most people find inspiration from, say, a motivational speech like a TED Talk, a self-help book, an inspirational quote, maybe even a life lesson. And that’s all great, but me? I find it where you’d least expect it.
Having fun. So, how do I do that? Actually, first, why do I do that? Shouldn’t I be completely blanking out, checking my brain at the door where I’m sitting on my recliner eating ketchup-flavored potato chips? Well, the answer is yes, and by the way, Canada has way better chip flavors than America. That’ll be my second TED Talk. Yeah, we can clap for that. How about Canada’s chip flavors? Let’s go!
But the question is, how do I do that? Or why do I do that? And the answer is very simple. Because inspiration is everywhere. You don’t have to look too far. Look where you’re enjoying yourself. I can’t help but see it and let it seep into me.
Example 1: Video Games
So, where are my happy places? Where do I find real-world inspiration in the things I do to escape the real world? Allow me to give you three such examples here today. The first one is video games.
Who doesn’t love video games? Especially here at the University of Waterloo, where many of you are literally learning how to create, code, and design video games. I absolutely love video games. The fact that we’ve gone from this to where we are today is inspiring enough.
But I have a specific example to share with you, and it has to do with an old friend. Ah, yes, Super Mario, the most iconic video game character in history. Mario actually saved the video game industry back in the 80s by popularizing a whole new genre called the side-scroller. Side note, did you know that his last name is also Mario?
Which means his full name is Mario Mario. Which means his brother’s name is Luigi Mario. And by the way, they are twins. This is canon. This is real. They are fraternal twins. Look at them. Anyway, I’m veering away from my point here.
What I want to tell you is there’s actually a specific formula on how Mario levels are created. And this four-step formula is pretty apparent in the 3D versions of the game and the newer versions. But for the purposes of my TED talk here, I wanted to bring it back to the OG. So here’s the original Super Mario Brothers, and here’s the four-step formula.
Part one, the concept is introduced in a safe space. So here’s Mario at the beginning of the game and literally looking ahead with no obstacles, no enemies, inviting you to walk forward. So if you’re playing the game for the first time, you’re pressing some buttons, learning what to do, and you realize that you can run and you can jump. That brings us to part two.
A goomba shows up. You put this into action. A goomba shows up. You jump on its head. Success! There’s a question mark block. You learn that you have to jump and hit it. A mushroom comes out. You eat it and grow. More success. So now you’re getting the hang of it, and that brings us to part three, where the environment gets more difficult.
Okay, not that difficult, but you understand where I’m getting at here. There might be pits that send you to your doom, different obstacles, different enemies, all while you try to run, jump, and sometimes fireball your way through. And then part four, one last way to put this all into action. In this case, climbing a giant 2D half-pyramid-looking thing and jumping towards a flagpole. And all of that becomes part of your toolbox as you go to the next level, where different enemies and abilities await.
You learn. You try. You fail. You try again. And eventually succeed. Does that sound familiar? Good. It should. It’s life. It certainly sounds familiar to me and my life journey. Now in video games, it’s very easy to want to try again. Because video games are fun, and starting over doesn’t really feel like starting over.
Seriously, I’d love to meet the person that beat any Super Mario on their very first try, on their very first life. Put that person in the Hall of Fame! But in reality, sometimes it’s tough. But then you try again, and get a little better, and play a little smarter.
I’ve heard the word “no” way more times than “yes” in my career. And sometimes those “no’s” felt like I mistimed the jump and fell into a never-ending pit. Every single time I got passed over for a promotion, I got laid off, I thought I was a shoo-in after crushing an audition, but I got passed over for whatever reason. I didn’t take it like a failure.I took it as a lesson.
Even at ESPN, where I am today, or many other places that I’ve worked, oftentimes it took years and rounds upon rounds of auditions just to simply be considered. But every time I heard that two-letter word, I got up, I dusted myself off, and tried again. And I tweaked, and I modified, and I made sure that I got as close to undeniable as possible.
And at the right time, I applied again.
Because I am keenly aware that “no” really means “not now.” And my pleasantly persistent, some might call annoying at times, demeanor refuses to give up. Just like our buddy Mario. Mario Mario. I find real-world inspiration in the things I do to escape the real world. Here is my second example. Hockey.
Example 2: Hockey
Sports. I bet you can think of a multitude of examples that made you leap out of your chair and rush to the gym. Quotes that stick with you your entire life. For example, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky quoting Michael Scott. A beautiful thing. I love hockey. Since I’m in a room full of fellow Canadians, I’m going to stick with hockey.
I love hockey. I grew up playing hockey. Oakville Rangers represent. That haircut is criminal. What the heck was I thinking? What is that? Seriously. Fast forward to today, marginally better haircut at best, but I am absolutely honored and thrilled to sit at a desk where I get to be part of NHL broadcasts.
Just like those that I idolized growing up. Those broadcasters were inspiring to me. Now, on the ice, there are no shortage of inspiring moments, but if we’re going to talk about goose bumps in hockey, we absolutely have to talk about one of the greatest moments in sports history. Some call it the greatest pass ever.
2001, the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup, and Joe Sakic, the captain, skates towards the most beautiful trophy in sports. As you probably know, the captain of a Stanley Cup championship team has earned the right to raise the cup above his head first and kiss it. But what does Joe Sakic do?
Joe Sakic grabs Lord Stanley’s mug, does not lift it, does not kiss it, and skates right towards one of the greatest players to ever play, who after 22 NHL seasons got so close to winning the Stanley Cup, but never could until this moment, his very last NHL game. And finally, finally, Raymond Bourque raises the Stanley Cup.
Now that is a truly inspiring moment, and I’m sure that many of you can think of so many others that are inspiring for different reasons. For example, Mario Lemieux, Brian Boyle, Phil Kessel, Saku Koivu, and others that fought cancer and played in the NHL. A true trailblazer, Willie O’Ree, the first black player in the National Hockey League. Willie O’Ree was also 95% blind in one eye, and he played in the greatest hockey league in the entire world. Remarkable.
Those are truly inspiring moments, but let me even zoom out and offer a different perspective. Even how you make it to the NHL and have a career there is inspiring. It’s one thing to get to the mountaintop. It’s another thing to stay there. 736 active roster spots in the show.
How many kids grow up dreaming of wanting to play on that NHL ice, and at any given moment, there is a maximum of 736 active roster spots? To achieve that dream, it certainly takes a village, but a lot of it, much of it, most of it is based on you. Your hard work, your determination, your skill, your will. You play hard, you play well, you get noticed.
You get scouted. You get drafted. You sign on the dotted line. You are in the NHL. And then you walk into that locker room. You put on that jersey, sweater, and all of a sudden, we are a team. We are a cohesive unit. We all have a role to play. We all want to win together.
Unlike playing a video game, you can’t win a Stanley Cup alone, unless you’re playing the NHL video game, but that’s besides my point. Let me even give you another perspective. In those locker rooms, there will be plenty of people from different life experiences and personalities. People from different countries, speaking different languages. Some will be extroverts, some introverts, some will be 40 years of age, others 19. One will be the superstar 50-goal scorer, another a fourth-line grinder, starting goaltenders, backup goaltenders. Some are married with kids, others single and looking to party.
Some enter the locker room having good days, bad days, angry days, sad days. Some do this on photo day. But when they all tie their skates and step onto the ice and the puck drops, none of that matters. The only thing that matters is to win the game, and you are called upon how you are told to contribute to help the team be victorious.
I worked very, very hard to get where I am. In many ways, the passion, the determination, the sacrifice, the climb to get there was very much a solo endeavor. But now, when I sit at that desk, I am surrounded by very talented people and very knowledgeable people. And when that red light comes on, and when the show is live, I know what my role is. I need to put those very talented people in the best possible positions to succeed, so that the best information is conveyed to the viewing audience.
I’m the traffic cop that gets us from point to point to point, so that the show runs smoothly. If they succeed, the show succeeds, the team succeeds, and therefore, I succeed as well. No doubt, when you enter the workforce, you will encounter people from all different walks of life, all different experiences.
But when you are given a project, an assignment, a task, you use the skills that got you there in the first place to focus on the task at hand, to bring everything together, to execute to the best of your abilities, so that everybody wins. That applies whether you’re closing a deal, whether you’re working on a television show, whether you’re creating a video game, or if you’re trying to win the Stanley Cup. I find real world inspiration from the things I do to escape the real world. Here’s my final example.
Example 3: Star Wars
Star Wars, one of the greatest franchises of all time. I love Star Wars. And honestly, you don’t have to look too far to be inspired. For starters, this dude literally went through something out of Mortal Kombat and survived. Are you kidding me? But I’m not here to talk about this dude. His name is Darth Maul, by the way, or some other of your favorites. For example, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Baby Yoda, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, none of them.
Not even the most powerful, ruthless Darth of them all, Jar Jar Binks. No. I’m here to talk about this guy. This red-eyed, blue-skinned, handsome devil of a man is named Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn is actually one of the most compelling, fascinating, captivating characters in the entire Star Wars universe. He is very much, as a villain, the opposite of Darth Vader.
Thrawn doesn’t use the Force. Thrawn isn’t as aggressive or powerful. Thrawn doesn’t even wear a cool black mask. Thrawn is the type to study your moves, your words, your history, your art, just to find some sort of tactical advantage and use it to destroy you, but then tell you how formidable an opponent you were. Thrawn is a bad boy straight out of Mensa. I could do an entire TED Talk on how I believe Thrawn is the greatest military mind in all of fiction.
But why is Thrawn up there instead of another more famous Star Wars character? The answer to that is very simple. It is because Thrawn inspires me greatly in one specific way. Now stick with me here, because I’m about to tell you a heartwarming story involving the villains, which in itself is as confusing as Super Mario’s last name being Mario.
So Thrawn has risen to the rank of Grand Admiral in the Empire. Grand Admiral is basically the second highest rank that you can achieve. His boss is the Emperor. What I’m saying is Thrawn is emailing his expense reports directly to Darth Sidious. Okay, now you might be thinking, yeah, so there are plenty of high-ranking people in the Empire, aren’t there? Darth Vader is considered by many to be the greatest villain of all time. Get to the point, man! Okay.
Thrawn looks like that. More specifically, Thrawn rose the ranks of the Empire looking like that. The Empire, as you might expect, is not a tolerant place, especially of non-humans. And when Thrawn was climbing the Empire’s corporate ladder, Thrawn experienced more than his share of racism, more than his share of bigotry.
It is not easy being non-human in the Empire, where xenophobia, or speciesism, runs rampant. Very few non-humans survive in the Empire, let alone become the heir to the Empire. There was a time in my career where I thought I would change my name from Arda to Adam. I thought Adam would get more opportunities to prove himself, more auditions.
Maybe Adam’s demo tape and resume wouldn’t get thrown in the garbage as quickly as, say, an awkward, weird-sounding Turkish Muslim name like Arda would. Early on in my career, I experienced an incident that not only exacerbated my fears, but also made me consider quitting the industry entirely. So I was walking down the hall one day at a studio, and around the corner, I overheard two people talking, and I overheard my name. And I stopped.
Curiosity got the better of me. They didn’t know I was there, and this is what they said next. “Watch out. That terrorist will blow up the place. Yeah, you just can’t trust a sand N-word.” I was completely shocked. My jaw dropped, and my face went pale. I turned around, and I wanted to be as far away from work as possible.
If they felt like that, did everyone feel the same way? Do I belong here? Do I belong in this industry? Should I just quit? That baggage stuck with me for a very long time, and I almost did leave broadcasting. But I am glad I didn’t, because the perseverance paid off. I am not a grand admiral, but I’m a heck of a storm trooper with decent aim.
There might come a time where you experience an incredible setback, where your patience and determination will be tested. Maybe you will feel beaten down. Maybe you will feel discriminated against. Lucky for me, I did not let that defeat me, and this particular part of my story has a very happy ending.
In 2021, I was honored to be able to host my very first episode of SportsCenter. Now, SportsCenter is a television institution. It’s been on the air for over 40 years, and to see my name on a SportsCenter graphic was surreal. It was incredible. A career highlight indeed.
Now after the first segment, a member of the crew came to me and said, “Hey, Arda, we’d like to apologize. We fixed this for the rest of the show and the re-air, but we incorrectly displayed your name. We forgot the umlaut, the two dots on top of the O in your last name. Again, we’re sorry about this, but it has been corrected and it won’t happen again.”
Now think of this from my perspective. That might sound minor, sure, but I go from almost changing my name to having a supportive group of producers, directors, and crew who on their own initiative made sure that my name was displayed properly. I didn’t even bring it up. It stuck out to them.
In that moment, I felt so proud. I felt accepted. I felt inspired. And if I let that moment, those words from earlier in my career defeat me or any of the trolls on social media that say similar things, I would have never survived to see this happen.
Then what happened was I made a Star Wars reference in the next segment and it received lukewarm response. The force wasn’t with me. Now think of what brings you joy. Maybe you share a love of Star Wars, video games, and sports like me. Or maybe it’s something different. Maybe it’s music, art, competitive Microsoft Excel.
Seriously, that’s a thing and it’s riveting. Sharing my lens, hopefully you find the motivation that will guide you in your life and your career so that you find real world inspiration in the things you do to escape the real world. And hey, if you take nothing else away from my TED Talk, now you know that Mario and Luigi are twins. Good vibes and thank you.