Jesse Groettum ’18 (right) during a study abroad trip in Greece where he gave a presentation about how the United States responds to disasters.
When Jesse Groettum began his education at St. Cloud State University, his passion came within the mass communications field while having the vision of one day working at a public radio station.
A few years later, that passion shifted towards another career path. Now, he finds himself helping the country battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Groettum graduated from St. Cloud State in December 2018 with a degree in mass communications and political science. Upon earning his degree, his journey led him from St. Cloud to Bismarck, North Dakota, where he is now helping with efforts surrounding COVID-19 in North Dakota.
“If you would have told me a year ago that I would be working in Fargo, I would have laughed,” he said. “But this has really turned into something that has pivoted my life 180° for the better.”
Groettum, who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in emergency management at North Dakota State University with the hopes of one day going after a doctorate degree, works in the Joint Information Center for the State of North Dakota during the COVID-19 pandemic. He started in the role at the end of March.
Groettum’s duties include pulling together various public health information and talking points to be delivered to state government officials and the general public, while making sure the state has a clear and consistent message.
Lately, that topic and major event that has taken up most of his time and attention has been COVID-19.
“Currently, I am monitoring different cases in surrounding states or counties for North Dakota. I have created an expansive timeline from the first notification from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) up until today’s date on everything North Dakota has done,” he said. “Currently, I am working on stepping into a media engagement role while shadowing.
Jesse Groettum ’18 (back left) pictured on campus while working a KVSC promotions booth for the Remo Drive.
“I have loved every minute of it. It is fulfilling and enjoyable work. I couldn’t think of a better thing to be doing right now than to be helping out with the COVID-19 response. It’s something I’ve always known I wanted to do.”
Finding a new passion at SCSU
Groettum’s journey to a new career path started when he needed an internship to fulfill a requirement to obtain his political science degree.
That was when he began to realize emergency management was something he could see himself doing moving forward.
“When I was at St. Cloud State, there was a class on campus that is all about public health and response, exactly what is going on right now (with COVID-19). They activate the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and you learn all about ICS (Incident Command System) and it’s where you learn all about emergency management. I fell in love with it,” Groettum said. “I ended up finding out that emergency management was something that I wanted to always learn more about. It got me excited and it felt like a brand new fresh start.
“My mentor Jim McDermott, Benton County Emergency Management Director, and political science professor Pat Bodelson strongly encouraged me to pursue my master’s degree. “Opportunity sometimes is just right in front of you and sometimes it does take someone else to give you that push,” Groettum continued. “Looking back at my time at St. Cloud State, I had a great time. The opportunities and resources provided to me were incredible and beyond what I ever expected.
“St. Cloud State can offer you opportunities if you start asking questions and know what you want to do. My time at St. Cloud State was wonderful.”
Helping others through a crisis
In the future, Groettum hopes to continue to pursue his degree at NDSU while helping others throughout the state in his current role. One day, he hopes to maybe even look into becoming an educator and teaching preparedness to others.
“I feel wonderful knowing that the work we are doing will help people in some way,” he said. “From my perspective, I do feel pride knowing that we are doing the best we can in the most timely manner to try and make sure we are helping people.
“North Dakota, from when this all started to where it’s at now, has really gotten some strong footing at being able to communicate what we are doing, communicate the numbers as we’ve increased our testing capabilities.”
