I created a scholarly formula

Thoughts by Jonathan Haag

It’s hard to believe that our time at Sagamore Institute is coming to an end in a little over a week.  The internship has flown by.

Want to know what makes a day go by fast?  Based on my internship I created a very scholarly formula:

laugh + have fun + throw what you know in a discussion + listen to discussions + work hard = a day that will fly by

As a bonus…to make a day really fly by: Watch the guys that are cutting down the tree in the front lawn…you never know what they are going to do (see picture).  That has to be a first for the Levey Mansion.

Before my internship ends I need to piece together the 2011 Annual Report for Sagamore and an op-ed on battery technology in Indiana.  Beyond those two projects we are all preparing for a China and Indiana event featuring Indiana Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman.

I have a feeling, that like the rest of the Summer, next Friday is going to come quickly.

The past few weeks…

Thoughts by Patrick Zeigler,

It has been a few weeks since I last posted a blog entry. During the past few weeks I finished up the African stock exchange database which is beginning to look terrific. I also transcribed a few interviews with multiple individuals that have given speeches and interviews at Sagamore. We had the Office Depot Foundation’s Community Conversation on Innovation in the Classroom stop by last week. Some of the most important individuals to Indianapolis’s education system stopped by and took part in the event which had special  guest Nicole Baker Fulgham speak. After we went down to the backpack give away on the south side of Indy with NASCAR racer Tony Stewart.

It’s been awhile

Thoughts by Jonathan Haag

The days at Sagamore Institute fly by and it becomes easy to forget to pause and reflect on the things that you have learned and done.

Let me try to bring you up to speed on the past couple of weeks from my perspective.

After wrapping up the Indiana Defense project I was assigned to doing research about the Meadows neighborhood in Indianapolis.  The Meadows was once the hippest part of town, but over a couple of decades the area became the worst neighborhood in Indianapolis.  Crime and drugs destroyed the community.

Currently, the Meadows in midst of a Renaissance.  Private investment, a strategic plan, support from the city and passionate residents has the Meadows is seeing revitalization.  Home to two incredible schools, mixed income housing, parks and a health center are making the Meadows a desirable place to live.

Check out this article to read about the Meadows revitalization: 
http://www.sagamoreinstitute.org/article/building-with-a-purpose/

After researching the Meadows I switched gears and helped with the Innovation in the Classroom event held at Sagamore Institute in conjunction with the Office Depot Foundation.

I helped out with compiling biographies and articles for the “Game Day” program.

Indianapolis is home to some incredible education focused innovations including Herron High School, Infusionomics and The Mind Trust.  It was incredible to hear the stories of these innovations, both their work and accomplishments.

After the Innovation in the Classroom event we headed down to the Southside of Indianapolis and watched Tony Stewart and the Office Depot Foundation hand out backpacks to area non-profits who will then distribute the backpacks to kids who are in need of them as they head back to school.

I was in charge of getting video of the event.  Watch the Sagamore Institute social media accounts over the next couple of weeks for video of Tony Stewart and the event!

This was only a small snapshot of the past couple of weeks.  It’s been a whirlwind!

To be lost in one race

This summer I am working with Donald Cassell, Senior Fellow here at the Sagamore Institute. I have the privilege of resarching and writing some of a brief that he is putting together for a new newsletter. The brief is on how Rwanda can be a model for development. My research has been fascinating, as I am half Rwandan and know next to nothing about the country or culture.

Growing up I was raised as white, as that is my other race, and had next to no African influence. Yet as I entered college I struggled with my identity. Though I felt like a white woman, I would look in the mirror and see a black woman. My friends, acquaitances and professors would project black stereotypes on my everyday. While my white friends lived in the oblivion of being the majority race, I woke up everyday and was reminded I was different.

Though I was frustrated with this dichotomy, I did come to learn that being white was not a  negative. There were countless aspects of my culture that were valuable and fed my character. Yet I began to realize I had to pursue my other half. I couldn’t ignore my black side.

Learning about Rwanda may feel backward and sometimes deceptive. I don’t feel apart of this race and culture, but I have a right to claim it regardless. And I have support for this theory. In a reading that Wesley Cate gave me, “African Perspectives on Colonialism” by A. Adu Boahen, quoted Edward Blyden “It is sad to think that there are some Africans, especially among those who have enjoyed the advantages of foreign training  who are blind to the radical facts of humanity as to say, ‘Let us do away with the sentiment of Race, let us do away with our African personality and be lost, if possible in another race…The duty of every man of every race is to contend for its individality to keep and develop it therefore, honour and love your race…If you are not yourself, if you surrender your personality. you have nothing left ot give to the world.”

I won’t be lost in one race alone.

Take My Breath Away

The other day I was walking through a forest. Even though it was a hundred degrees outside, in the woods, the tall trees had created a forest ceiling and the temperature had cooled. As I looked up at the green arc above me, I caught my breath at the beauty of it all. I then thought of something else that takes my breath away: literature. I was readinga a quote from C.S. Lewis and I almost cried because of its poignancy and truth. Yet I realized, as I walked on, that I could never have been moved by this piece of writing if I could not understand it. The fact that I am educated allows me to listen to a piece of music, read a book or hear a lecture and be so moved as to cry. 

Here at the Sagamore we work among the educated. These men and women are truly learned. Yet if I, who have a limited education, can be emotionally challenged by the genius around me, how much more these men and women? I know that I am missing so much beauty in this world because of my ignorance, and thus I will continue interning here. For the longer I stay here, the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more I get to have my breath taken away.

Who Knew?

As Interns we have our own special projects that we are researching all summer long, but every once in a while we are assigned random research jobs for the Senior Fellows. Last week was one of those times. It seemed like everybody here was researching different aspects of Indiana’s contribution to the Department of Defense (DoD). We were told to write little summaries of different Indiana based companies, schools and organizations that are assets to the DoD. Though I was a bit at a loss to why exactly I was researching this, I did enjoy learning more about my state. Just from Internet searches alone I learned that Indiana is home to many of the most important companies working for the DoD? Everything from Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs) to Sonar technology are produced and distributed from this state. It was encouraging to know that my sate is so helpful to this country.

Want to know about Indiana’s defense assets?

Thoughts by Jonathan Haag

This week has flown by!

On Tuesday, Wes, leader of interns, loaded us all up with a project dealing with the National Center for Complex Operations (NCCO) that is housed at Sagamore Institute.  Personally, I spent time profiling Indiana’s military bases and local companies that have been awarded Department of Defense contracts.  I also helped design the cover of the report.

If you see me around, ask me some questions about Indiana’s defense assets…I think I know a thing or two about that topic!

Oh!  The most awesome part of this week?  Being on door duty for the Levey Mansion on Wednesday!