When St. John Paul II senior volleyball standout Kali Tanguay wants a change from her usual day, she’ll pay a visit to a foreign land.
Maybe she’ll visit down under with views of Australia, or perhaps a trip to Jolly Old England. And she doesn’t have to go any further than the basement of her home to do so.
For the past half dozen years, Kali has constructed giant Lego structures of famous world landmarks.
“It’s not typical for a teenager. You probably wouldn’t look at me and think I was into that, but I love Lego building,” she said. “I want to go into architecture; it’s always something I’ve loved.”
When Kali was ten years old, her grandmother purchased large Lego sets for her and Kali would go to work on her creations. Her dad built shelves in the basement to display her handiwork.
“I always liked to challenge myself and it kinda grew from there,” she said. “I got to be able to do them in about two or three days, the four- or five-thousand-piece Lego sets.
Her most recent creation was of a two-foot tall, two-foot wide Big Ben Tower in London. She’s most proud of Australia’s Sydney Opera House.
“It’s by far the biggest and the one I did in the shortest amount of time,” she said. “I did it over Christmas break, so I would sit there for probably six hours a day, listen to some music, and just work on it.”
Next to her Lego obsession, Kali’s volleyball career extends almost as long.