At first glance Legos look like child’s play with colorful plastic bricks scattered across desks with students huddled over colorful builds. But at Pierce College’s LEGO club, it’s enhancing social connection, community and creativity within this stress-free environment.
The LEGO club began in the fall semester of 2023 sociology major and now club president Jenna Rodriguez, who said she attended her first Club Rush and mentioned to her friends how interesting a LEGO club could be. Her ex-vice president and friend created the club for her and encouraged her to run it.
Child Development Department Chair Alma Cortes is the adviser for the club, which assisted with the growth of members.
Sociology major and President of the LEGO Rodriguez shares the club’s goals for members who attend.
“We just blossomed into this club that people like to come to relax and de-stress from thinking about school or whatever they have going on in their personal lives,” Rodriguez said, “to kind of just leave that at the door for an hour and a half, just relax and just not think about it, and go back to their inner child and just be able to play.”
The club meets Mondays from 1:30 to 3 p.m. At meetings, members are given an hour and a half to build according to the theme. When time is up, members present their pieces and then everyone votes anonymously for a winner to choose next week’s theme. The club hosts friendly competitions among members, which allows them to socialize and create memories with new friends
Pre-veterinary medicine major and club member Leah Silva expressed the friendship opportunities the club has given her.
“Through this club, it helped me get through my first semester [of college]. And this club had definitely been a de-stressor, and it’s nice, because there’s no pressure to actually make something,” Silva said, “and even if you’re just here to sit and relax and just talk with friends I think the Lego club is important for the connections I’ve made and the friends I’ve brought with me.”
Vice President of the LEGO club Sina Fotouhi shares a similar experience about the club enhancing his social skills.
“It was really just like my interest in Legos that kind of pushed me to join the club and because of that, sharing an interest with other people helped me,” Fotouhi said, “Legos is one of those interests that I don’t really get to talk to a lot of people about, seeing that a particular niche that I was interested in was represented here on a full club scale, really made me happy. Meeting the people here, seeing how friendly they were to me, and how safe this environment felt for me, was just something I really appreciated.”
