From three-foot-long Saturn rockets to sets with thousands of pieces, building Lego sets has become a popular pastime for many students.
Freshman Jack Tracy has been building Lego sets since he was two years old, initially using them as a way to relieve stress when he was in the hospital.
“I got into Lego when I was younger, around the age of two, because Lego was a way for me to relieve my stress when I was in the hospital when I got diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia which is a very rare cancer that is usually found in adults and not really found in kids,” Tracy said.
Tracy loves Lego sets because they are a fun way to foster architectural skills.
“I believe that [Lego sets are] gaining popularity because they’re very fun,” Tracy said. “Second, it’s very architectural, and so if people want to get into architecture or some sort of building [activity,], they can learn by building with Lego and learn how to put things together to balance and stabilize everything.”
Even for students who do not regularly collect or build Lego pieces, they can still be a great option as an easy but special gift. For example, senior Eric Penner gave his mom a Lego flower that he built as a gift.
“Lego sets are a really easy gift that can be a gift for anybody,” Penner said. “I got my mom one of the flower Lego sets for Christmas, and it was easy to assemble and affordable so she loved it. The car-branded Lego sets can make good gifts for guys. Lego sets are probably one of my go-to gifts.”
Similarly, junior Hayden Kelo was first introduced to Lego after they were given to him as a birthday gift.
“I just got one as a birthday gift, and so I’ve started building [Lego sets] since then,” Kelo said. “I like the Architect Series of all the little buildings and all the cities they do. They do actual cities like San Francisco or Chicago, and they’ll do skylines of those you can build.”
According to Kelo, Lego sets vary in size and price. The biggest set Kelo has built was a three-foot-long Saturn rocket.
“Some are a bit more expensive because they have just smaller, more precise pieces, but some of the bigger sets can be 30 bucks and I’ve seen some them go up to like 200 though, it just depends on how big the set is and how complicated it is,” Kelo said. “ I have built a Saturn rocket that was about three feet long on its side, and that was the biggest one I have ever done, I had to build that one in parts.”
For Tracy, building Lego sets is something that he sees himself continuing to do in the future, hoping to eventually work for Lego.
“I actually want to work for Lego in the future,” Tracy said. “I want to work as a Lego engineer, where I create sets for other people to build.”
With so many distractions on social media or games on phones, senior Michael Handlin has found building Lego to be a great way to limit screen time while also sharpening his problem-solving skills.
“[building Lego] is a really good pastime, plus, it helps you learn how to put things together so it’s good problem-solving,” Handlin said. “If you can’t read the instructions, you can problem solve. I also think it’s just a fun pastime because it’s something that you can do to get off your phone while also having fun.”
