Growing up among the steel mills of Hamilton, Ontario, Don Perro knew he wanted something different for his life but when his first attempt at getting out failed, he knew he needed to cast his net wider and the result was acceptance at art school in Vancouver where he found his comrades among the misfits studying animation at Emily Carr College of Art and Design (now known as Emily Carr University of Art and Design).

It was here that Don fell in love with education and he set a goal for himself: work in the industry for a decade and then turn his life to teaching, a goal he achieved just shy of his 10-year plan.

In our lively discussion, Don recounts some of the experiences that shaped his career, from the string of rejection letters and bad interviews that nudged him in the direction of finding his true calling, to his experience setting up the world-renowned animation program at Capilano University and his 20+ year career as an educator.

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