Minot man wants to stay local after graduation
Trending
Matthew Westereng is quite the busy individual, occupying himself with multiple jobs, college classes and several hobbies.
Westereng is from the Minot area and has been auditing classes at Minot State University for the past three years. This May, he will be receiving his Advancing Students Toward Education and Employment Program (ASTEP) Certification at graduation and walk with the rest of the 2024 graduating class.
While attending MSU, he has been in a number of different classes, but the ones he chose to take this semester are world geography, world civilizations and art with a smartphone. The class he enjoys the most is world civilizations, in which they just finished up a section about Egypt.
Not only is he in college, but he also works three part-time jobs that keep him busy.
At SCHEELS, he pushes carts, scans back tags and puts things in their proper locations. The holiday season was hectic for Westereng, as people were purchasing gifts in large volumes.
His job at Roosevelt Park Zoo keeps him busy all year-round, but he is the busiest during the summer. Westereng prepares the meals for the animals in the petting zoo area, such as goats, camels, rabbits, sheep, Scottish highland cattle, bison, a tortoise and the chickens.
When he feeds the goats, he said they sometimes like to bite at his clothes and try to get him to play with them. During what he described as the goat encounter, he has the opportunity to brush them.
In addition to the goat encounter, Westereng helps feed the giraffes in the summer.
He prepares the meals every morning, then the zoo staff feed them to the appropriate animals throughout the day. One particular thing that he has had to take on this winter is preparing medication for the zoo’s Amur leopard.
Feeding the big cats is his favorite task. He thoroughly enjoys feeding the lions their steak and chicken dinners.
Roosevelt Park Zoo also has an okapi, which Westereng said is part of the giraffe family. According to National Geographic, the okapi is also known as the “forest giraffe” and “looks more like a cross between a deer and a zebra.” A bulk of its body is dark brown and the hind legs are white- and black-striped like a zebra.
He takes his responsibility for the okapi very seriously.
“I don’t want the people to touch it, or feed it, or take his garden snacks,” he remarked.
During the summer, he also sprays the penguins and tigers with cool water to keep their temperatures down. Instead of cool water, he uses warm water to spray the lions.
His responsibilities at the zoo do not stop at feedings.
“I help weigh [the penguins] and write the number,” Westereng said.
His third job is scanning tickets for Minot State University Beavers sporting events.
His favorite sports teams come from Minnesota, such as the Twins, Wild, Yankees and Vikings. The reason he likes the Minnesota teams is they are right on the border with North Dakota and the games are always exciting to watch.
If he had to pick two of the many sports that he likes, baseball and football are at the top of the list.
Not only does he watch the Minnesota Twins on television, but he has also gone to games in person several times.
Twice a week, Westereng meets with his mentor at the MSU Wellness Center and they play basketball. On the days that she is not available, he will walk on the treadmill instead.
Not only is he involved in playing sports on a court, but he is also a champion at bowling. He took part in the 2023 Special Olympics and placed first in Minot and fourth in Mandan. His parents taught him how to bowl when he was a child, and he ended up enjoying it. Before being in the Olympics, he played on a bowling league team with a few friends.
Watching movies is a pastime he likes, as well. Westereng likes a variety of different movies, ranging from Marvel to DC Comics to Disney, but he prefers the movies “Step Brothers” and “Ratatouille” over all others.
Westereng is a wealth of knowledge, having several years and names of actors for movies, names of sports players and facts about animals. Even after receiving his ASTEP Certification from MSU, he intends to continue working for SCHEELS and Roosevelt Park Zoo.