ALUMNI/AE ANNEX: An Interview With Jonathan Blais

March 12, 2014

by Darren Bruno

As Alumni Editor for HiA, I spoke earlier this week with entrepreneur and fellow Tunxis alumnus Jonanthan Blais. We discussed the impact that an education in the humanities can have on an individual’s worldview, regardless of that person’s path in life. We also conversed about innovations within the realm of sport vis-à-vis the broader theme of interdisciplinarity. The interview was conducted on March 10, 2014. Darren Bruno, for HiA: Now, you’ve graduated from UConn at this point? Tell me what your situation is…

Jonathan Blais: I graduated from UConn in August. And now work at The Hartford, the insurance company.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Great… and doing your invention and business, Defender: The Sport, on the side?

Jonathan Blais: Yes.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: What do you do at The Hartford?

Jonathan Blais: For now I’m correcting and processing return mail. It’s an entry-level position, but it was difficult to get and it’s my foot in the door. It’s a great place to work.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: I have some friends at the company. They are very cutting edge in insurance best practices, and they pay better salaries than a lot of other places. It’s a great opportunity,

Jonathan Blais: Yes. Great benefits too. And ironically enough, my capstone course at UConn was on the poet Wallace Stevens, who was Vice President of the company from the 1930’s through the 1950s. So I had a little insight into the company and its history through taking that course.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Intriguing. Now, you excelled in humanities-based courses at Tunxis. You have a great ear for the language, and for argument as well. Your interest in the debate between secular humanistic and scientific positions on the one hand and religious worldviews on the other defined a big piece of your reputation at Tunxis.

Now, I know that while you were at Tunxis, you made a sport that you invented, called Defender, into a business. I have heard Defender called a hybrid of hockey, soccer, baseball, and golf. And at your website, www.defenderthesport.com, you note:

“What’s the point of hockey?…To defend goals. Of baseball?…To hit a ball using a bat. And tennis?…To stop the ball from getting past you. And what about soccer?…defense is everything. Defender is the root of these sports.”

My question for you is a perhaps unorthodox one. What do classes in Creative Writing, Literature, Philosophy, or Religion contribute to an entrepreneurial pursuit like this business? What’s the connection?

Jonathan Blais: Oh, and just a note, I’m happy to say we finished the patenting process as well.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Congratulations.

Jonathan Blais: Thanks. My friends and I have always been interested in sports and competition, and Defender is an exciting project we’ve been working on to help fuel this desire. Now, to your question:

This is an interesting question. And it starts with my first day at Tunxis. I was not sure what I wanted to do, what subjects I was interested in, what path I wanted to take in life. I spent five years at Tunxis trying to figure this out. And what I learned surprised me. Classes like Creative Writing, Philosophy and English filled me with a desire to learn more, and gave me perspective.

It motivated me not to learn for the sake of getting a grade, but great courses and professors showed me that the pursuit of knowledge was worth it in and of itself.As I said, this gave me perspective on what I thought were the important things in life. Not merely a 9-5 job, crunching numbers, and getting a paycheck. Defender exemplifies a creative spirit committed to achieving something beyond the ordinary. And so far it’s paid off in the places I’ve been, the kids and adults it’s affected, and the people I’ve met. Additionally, creating and developing Defender stems from a passion of imagination and creativity. Things that Tunxis really nurtured and helped solidify in me. . . . .

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Okay, thanks! Now, I see in Defender the willingness to combine creatively the essences of several sports. I was thinking as you were answering my last question that it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to infer that the creative spark of the liberal arts and humanities is a sensibility of being willing to cross disciplinary boundaries, a willingness to spot patterns that transcend traditional categories and link very different ideas and activities to one another… So that kind of orientation toward interdisciplinarity which would have been part and parcel in the philosophy and even the creative writing course might extend toward this very pioneering blending of different sports. Is that too much of a stretch, or are we on the same page?

Jonathan Blais: Absolutely, yes. Being creative is something that has defined me since an early age. What Tunxis did is take that motivation and focus it in a way that explored aspects of literature, religion, philosophy. It showed me a history of human thought, creativity and imagination and helped me see common threads running throughout humanity.

What I learned was a way to think, not what to think. This is huge. And being able to take a step back from a situation or moment is huge, to see things with a fresh perspective. I went through a period of breaking down sports: what connects each one of them, common threads.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Great—this is fruitful material.

Jonathan Blais: How different is American football from Soccer, or Hockey from Basketball? When you break it down, it’s more similar than you might think. Each has a type of goal, something to be defended, with aggressors and defenders on each side. They all work in a way that, I think, can be related to ancient gladiatorial games or even warfare. On a scale that influences large groups of people (fan bases) on a grand scale (television). This type of thing is nothing new, and it’s part of who we are. There’s certainly something to be said for this. We tried to break down these fundamental truths that exist in all major sports and see if we could utilize the core concepts into something that worked. We believe it did. Not only in kids, but teenagers and adults—people of all ages. We’d like to think this was no accident.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: So you’re really getting to those universals, it seems… Would you agree? Those qualities that are true in many different situations, that sort of unite us as human beings, no matter how different we are from each other….and no matter how different the scenarios are on the surface level…?

Jonathan Blais: I would agree, yes. Some of the most inspiring moments for me is seeing people, adults, kids, black, white, you name it, get into a Defender court. A transformation happens and people have a fun, a kind of instinctual fun, it seems. People break out of their shell and those who are having a bad day smile. Everyone seems to enjoy it. Everyone seems to “get it.”

Which, of course, is nice for us. It didn’t have to end up that way.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: I guess, breaking out of shells and transcending in a broad range of ways is a pervasive theme here!

Now I know you are still continuing, but I had a question that’s been nagging at me, if I may interject…

Jonathan Blais: Sure.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Earlier you spoke of “passion of imagination and creativity. Things that Tunxis really nurtured and helped solidify in me.” Now, those words really struck me, because in recent years—and particularly it seems in the headlines even this week!—the humanities have come under fire precisely because to the untrained eye, “solidity” is not something we associate with them. Disciplines like philosophy, literature, the arts, religion… do not seem to be grounded to a lot of people, to produce tangible outcomes that can be used in the so-called “real-world.” Now, certainly, your responses so far have pointed to a much more sophisticated outlook on how the humanities in fact do have utility or useful application in a very real world. But, just to help some of our readers in clarifying where you stand, what do you mean when you say these classes solidified passion, creativity, imagination.

How does one even do such a thing with qualities that seem so intangible, non-quantifiable, abstract? What can be solid about such things?

Jonathan Blais: Ultimately, I can only speak of my own experience, but I think it’s true for anyone. At Tunxis, I was a General Studies major and I received a broad variety of classes that helped feed my desire for knowledge, creativity, and additional perspectives on reality, life and communication. I knew that life was (and of course is) more important than the paycheck at the end of the week. This is the case for me, anyway. I focused on classes that broadened my knowledge base and fed that burning insight I had about human ideas and insights. Writing also played a big role in this, both as a way to express myself and as a way to improve my communication. This is what guided me into the future.

When I left Tunxis, I really knew what I wanted to do and I had a solid footing (and a lot of confidence) moving forward. It paved the way for the success I had at the University of Connecticut—and with Defender the Sport. At UConn I was an English major, and only further developed my eye for literature, that is to say, the history of human perspective and communication. This absolutely helped in, as you said, gaining insight into common themes that run throughout our human experience.

More to your question specifically, a humanities education helped me become a better communicator. This has directly helped me with finding a job with a reputable company, build a strong following with Defender the Sport, LLC, and create a dynamic social network. It’s also given me the ability to empathize with others, see issues from other people’s perspective, and think critically. This helps in social communication, business communication and debating the important issues of the day. And today, interpersonal communication is more important than ever. Not to mention having a trained and developed eye for finding reputable sources and accurate, informative information.

When it comes down to it, an education in the humanities has repaid me in ways I could never have foreseen going in. It’s helped me in my educational career, business, and life. I see it as a true education, and not a training for a specific job or expertise. To me, a humanities education was critical to my success as a student and my success in the Defender court. And it will stay with me throughout my life. Learning about our dynamic human origins, ideas and perspectives is, as I see it, one of the most important things we can be doing.

Darren Bruno, for HiA: Jon, you’ve really illuminated why the relationship Tunxis has with its students and alumni is so critical. In so many ways, the College’s alumni embody in their personal and professional lives ongoing the core of principles in the humanities that define so much of the teaching and learning at Tunxis. Your story is a vivid example of this. Thanks for your time sharing with us; I trust that many students will be interested in knowing what can be done with all the hard work they are putting into their time at Tunxis.

Jonathan Blais: It’s been a pleasure, and I’ve enjoyed your questions. I’m interested in what you and the other members of the HiA team are doing to further awareness of the very real benefits of the humanities, and look forward to staying in touch. All the best.