WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)—18-year-old Alec Meister found a new way to keep busy during this pandemic.
"I've always wanted to build some type of model," said Meister.
He created a mansion made out of popsicle sticks.
"The idea just popped into my head one day," said Meister.
Meister spent a total of 800 hours and 8,000 popsicle sticks making this mansion. Meister said being a track athlete for West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School he's not one to spend his down time building things.
"I'm one that usually sits on my phone a bit," said Meister. "So for me to get off my phone and do something different was a big thing."
Meister said he had vision to create something so he did it and in doing so he found his passion, which ultimately led him to his vision now, which is to become a professional architect.
"I'm super bummed that school ended and I didn't have a final track season," said Meister. "But if that wouldn't have happened then, if quarantine wouldn't have happened then I wouldn't have never been able to build something like this."
Meister is planning to attend Ball State University for college in the fall and major in architecture. He said he'll continue building things now that he's learned he has the patience for it and enjoy it.
"This was kind of a test to see if I would be able to hold up with architecture and I like it," said Meister.
Alec had a drive-by graduation celebration today where he displayed his popsicle mansion for family and friends. Alec also posted a video on YouTube displaying the creation of the mansion from start to finish.
View that video here.
