I am your English 12 teacher and I like to make things. I can’t think of anything more fulfilling
than imagining a great tree fort, then gathering the materials and building a special refuge for
me and my friends. Over the years I’ve built sheds, fences, decks, boats, guitars, catapults,
barges and barns. The thrill of seeing something from my imagination coming to life and taking
its place in the real world makes me feel powerful and alive. Through the things that I make,
other people get a chance to experience what I’ve dreamt. As I’ve matured I’ve come to realize
that the human relationships that result from my enterprise connect me to the love and
friendship that I need to live a happy life.
When I look back on it, Lego was definitely a gateway drug. As a …show more content…
I could start building without a plan and end up with an intricate and colourful
city in short order. There were Lego wheels, windows, trees and even Lego people that could be
employed as eyes, limbs and antennae for wonderful and grotesque robots. The robots could
joyfully destroy an imaginary city, then topple off the coffee table, exploding into bits with that
terrible cacophony that only Lego makes.
There comes a time in a child’s life, however, when Lego is not enough. It is too predictable,
too digital. It’s hard, dishwasher-safe plastic, painful right-angles and primary colours speak too
much of the nursery. I got into scrap wood and the violence of hammer and nails. I got into
splinters and the frustrations of my dad’s cheap, dull tools. I got into full-scale building with all
of its weight-bearing realities. Forts and go-carts emerged - real vehicles in real spaces with real
friends helping, racing, crashing and bashing, all in real time. We pushed our racers the two
blocks to the top of Belmont Street hill and had one kid at the bottom to watch for cars. Old
neighbours gave us curious or disapproving looks from behind their curtains as we
than imagining a great tree fort, then gathering the materials and building a special refuge for
me and my friends. Over the years I’ve built sheds, fences, decks, boats, guitars, catapults,
barges and barns. The thrill of seeing something from my imagination coming to life and taking
its place in the real world makes me feel powerful and alive. Through the things that I make,
other people get a chance to experience what I’ve dreamt. As I’ve matured I’ve come to realize
that the human relationships that result from my enterprise connect me to the love and
friendship that I need to live a happy life.
When I look back on it, Lego was definitely a gateway drug. As a …show more content…
I could start building without a plan and end up with an intricate and colourful
city in short order. There were Lego wheels, windows, trees and even Lego people that could be
employed as eyes, limbs and antennae for wonderful and grotesque robots. The robots could
joyfully destroy an imaginary city, then topple off the coffee table, exploding into bits with that
terrible cacophony that only Lego makes.
There comes a time in a child’s life, however, when Lego is not enough. It is too predictable,
too digital. It’s hard, dishwasher-safe plastic, painful right-angles and primary colours speak too
much of the nursery. I got into scrap wood and the violence of hammer and nails. I got into
splinters and the frustrations of my dad’s cheap, dull tools. I got into full-scale building with all
of its weight-bearing realities. Forts and go-carts emerged - real vehicles in real spaces with real
friends helping, racing, crashing and bashing, all in real time. We pushed our racers the two
blocks to the top of Belmont Street hill and had one kid at the bottom to watch for cars. Old
neighbours gave us curious or disapproving looks from behind their curtains as we