North Dakota started it all

I was reminded today that the homework assignment that really broke the dam for Logan was a report on the state of North Dakota, back in May. It really is a bit surreal to be here and consider Logan’s claim (at that time) that he “could learn so much more by just going to North Dakota.” We have actually conducted that experiment, and the results are hard to communicate.  The state report project was successful, in that Logan learned about the history and economy of North Dakota, academically, through research. On the other hand, visiting North Dakota in person has offered him a different sort of knowledge through the chance to meet the people who call this state home, to smell the farms, to see the wide, flat horizon and feel dwarfed by the sky. It’s difficult to quantify the intangible, but I’d have to say he was right: he has learned a lot by coming here.