CBU’s Community Life hosted its first-ever Minifig Mixer on Jan. 22, allowing Lego enthusiasts to make minifigures and establish new friendships.
Taking place in the Community Life Lounge, the mixer had about a dozen tables piled high with hundreds of Legos for students to let their imaginations go wild.
According to Community Life staff members Zech Zieglar and Emily Lee, this event attracted more students than anticipated, as a line quickly formed up to 40 minutes before the event’s posted starting time.
Upon entering, attendees had the opportunity to sign up for a raffle, where students could place their ticket in one of four miniature Lego sets before heading over to build a personalized minifigure.
The room was decorated like a child’s birthday party, with Lego-themed balloons and colorful tablecloths.
Memorable childhood snacks were provided, such as Capri Suns, Cheez-Its, and Rice Krispie Treats, adding a touch of nostalgia to the festivities.
The “Lego Batman” movie played quietly in the background as students gathered together with their friends to build an assortment of structures.
Zech Zieglar, sophomore architecture major, said, “This event was inspired by the desire to bring a unique group of people together, where you have people who sometimes come to events, sometimes don’t, come together to build Legos.”
His fellow staff member Emily Lee, sophomore psychology and philosophy double major, shared her reasoning for pitching this idea.
“We know everyone loves Legos and we try to reach as many different types of people as we can, Lee said. “One of our struggles is reaching guys sometimes, as a lot of our events cater more towards females. So we were like, what’s something both guys and girls can enjoy?”
Lee said her favorite part of the event was seeing the different Lego creations students built throughout the night.
On the other hand, Zieglar said his favorite part was seeing the anticipation build while leading up to the event, and how that translated to a successful turnout.
“It’s fun kind of having that feeling of exclusivity when you come over here and you’re like ‘Oh that’s the event I’m going to!’ It feels like a lot of people here, especially with the line outside and so I think that helped a lot,” Zieglar said.
As this was the first event of its kind, many students hope for this event to occur again in the future, with a better spectrum for a wider audience. Jordan Chan, senior chemistry major, stated that while he was enjoying himself, his only suggestion would be to change where this event is hosted next time to accomodate its size.
Chan shared how the combination of the large turnout and the smaller venue caused there to be a long waiting period before students and their friends could participate in the event.
Accompanying Chan, Sierra Morales, junior music major, said the activity brought back good memories of her childhood, contributing to her fondness for the event.
“I grew up playing with Legos as a kid. My favorite part about this is that I get to just come to build Legos for fun,” Morales said.
Upon being asked if this event would be pitched again, Zieglar stated that he was not opposed to the idea.
Lee expanded on this, sharing how she would love to ramp up the festivities.
“[It could be] even more large-scale next year, since this was the first time, so we can work out some of the kinks,” Lee said.
By the end of the night, most of the Lego pieces for the mini-figures had run out, leading students to crowd around one another in hopes of participating by building with the other Legos provided.
With the success of this event, Community Life anticipates hosting more unique events like this soon.
