Sebastian Lennox, a 12-year-old from New Hyde Park, said he has been playing with Legos since he was 2 years old.
But Lennox doesn’t just play with the blocks, he can look at any building and replicate it with his sets at home.
“It’s really cool actually,” Lennox said. “It’s a lot of fun to be able to see where the strong parts are, and where the weak points are.”
Lennox, a seventh-grader at Great Neck South Middle School, will be testing his knowledge about architecture, and an array of other subjects, on the NBC game show “Genius Junior.”
Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the one-hour competition series is the ultimate test of intelligence and endurance, according to the network.
Twelve teams of children ages 8 to 12 compete in a series of quizzes.
Lennox’s episode will air on Sunday.
Lennox’s academic and cultural interests stretch beyond architecture.
When he is not recreating iconic structures from across the world, Lennox said, he likes to play and watch sports.
“I love to watch all sports, whatever I can get my eyes on I will enjoy,” Lennox said.
His favorite sport is soccer, but he said he also likes tennis and basketball.
To better enjoy his favorite sport, Lennox taught himself Spanish.
“I did a lot of studying because I’m really passionate about soccer and really wanted to be able to understand the games and the broadcasters,” Lennox said. “It’s sort of fun to just watch the sport, but more fun to be able to hear and understand more words other than ‘goal.'”
He said he studied a lot, and knew he was getting close to grasping the language when he could understand the announcers better.
Lennox also plays both the violin and viola. He said he’s focusing more on the viola now and said he plans to take that further into his life.
“I like [the viola] a lot more,” Lennox said. “To me it’s a more interesting instrument … it has a very unique sound.”
Lennox’s mother, Grace, said she thinks it’s great to see her son interested in different subjects.
“He can get engaged in different things, he’s not just focused on one thing,” Grace said. “It’s important, of course, for him to be well-rounded in academics, of course, but I want to keep him balanced socially and with extracurricular activities.”
When he took the stage for the show, which was filmed, he said it was both exciting and nerve-racking.
“It’s this complete competition, but it was also a lot of fun,” Lennox said.
Lennox and his mother said they have been keeping up with the series and are excited to see the episode air.
“This is the first time I’m going to see myself on TV, except a small commercial I did for Kohl’s,” Lennox said. “But this is much bigger.”
