Photo by Brian Waldbillig ’18
Justin Bergeron was a junior in high school when the Warrior Football program invited him to Winona for a recruitment visit. After visiting campus and seeing the breathtaking view at Garvin Heights, he was hooked.
“It was something I never forgot, and I could imagine myself making this place my second home,” the Lindenhurst, Ill., native said.
Bergeron said that being a student athlete and a member of the football team leadership council helped him excel both on and off the field.
“Being a part of a college sport helped me in ways I never would have thought,” said Bergeron. “I grew close with an amazing group of people, was able to compete at a high level with the sport I love, and was pushed to succeed academically.”
In addition, receiving an athletic scholarship allowed him to focus more time on school and less time worrying about paying the bills.
Along with juggling academics and football, Bergeron took advantage of the many on-campus jobs WSU has to offer, working as a walk-in technician for WSU Tech Support and as the lead student software developer for the Mac team.
Bergeron later combined his two passions—fitness and technology—to complete his senior Computer Science research Capstone. He researched a company named Firebase to help build superior mobile apps and grow his business. This endeavor led him to creating an app of his own, called BetterYou Health & Fitness.
Photo by Brian Waldbillig ’18
BetterYou Health & Fitness is a one-stop-shop for holistic health that gives users the tools to make healthy eating choices, commit to healthy changes and create healthy routines across all dimensions of wellness.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Bergeron plans to continue working on BetterYou Health & Fitness, which can be found on the Apple App Store. He also hopes to create custom mobile apps and provide wellness training to communities.
“This app has now turned into my future post-graduation job,” Bergeron said. “This is something I never imagined coming true, but because of the WSU community, I have turned my dreams into a reality.”
WSU Fall Commencement Ceremonies will take place Friday, Dec. 8, in McCown Gymnasium on the Winona campus. The 10 a.m. ceremony will feature the College of Business, the College of Education, and the College of Science and Engineering. The 2 p.m. ceremony will feature the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
For more information, visit http://www.winona.edu/graduation/commencement.asp or call University Communications at 507-457-5024.
