There are plenty of ways to fight off boredom as a high school kid. Hang out with friends, go to the movies, play a sport, and other classic stuff. JT Nejedlo and Aidan Deaven of Delafield, Wisconsin did something a bit more ambitious than that, though, and established themselves as two of the coolest high school makers in the country by building their own roller coaster ( via BoingBoing).
According to Wisconsin news station TMJ4, the pair decided to build the roller coaster one summer for the most child-like of reasons: because it would be fun. It also helped that Deaven’s father is a former physics professor, so his insight (and permission) were surely valuable. The ride starts on the backyard treehouse, using the momentum from that initial descent to take them across the property. Aside from riding their DIY attraction over and over, they also made a few basketball trick shots while sitting in the cart, as seen in the video above.Fun aside, the project also had the added benefit of helping the boys get into college. With the roller coaster on their resumes, they both were accepted to the University of Wisconsin, where Nejedlo is a first-year business student and Deaven will be there next year pursuing an engineering degree.
If this isn’t an inspiring message for young makers, we don’t know what is. If you have a seemingly pointless project that’s a bit geeky but seems super fun to you, absolutely go for it, because who knows what’ll happen as a result. At the very least, you’ll probably enjoy yourself.
Featured image: TMJ4