Charlie Berens has been taking the state of Wisconsin by storm with his video series, The Manitowoc Minute. On Friday Feb. 16th Berens performed at the Student Union at University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. 

Berens attended The University of Wisconsin – Madison where he studied Journalism and Environmental Geography. His passion for the planet has always been relevant in his life. Berens shared, “I was very active on campus and helped start the mission ‘Re-think Wisconsin’ where we tapped into recycling issues on campus. I have great memories of being surrendered by people who wanted to change things and work towards making a difference.”  

Berens still incorporates environmentalism into his daily life and even in his show. Berens stated, “Caring about the environment doesn’t ever just ‘go away.’ The problem with environmentalism is that it is painted as a left and right issue but in reality, it is everyone’s issues. Whether you are a hunter, fisher, outdoorsman, etc – you want healthy ecosystems.”  

As an UW- Alumni Berens commented on his education experience, “The UW system encourages furthering education. Many of the schools stress a focus on a liberal arts education which influences your overall perspective and creates a well-rounded student.”  

Berens explained his passionate drive towards his career and he credits that to having a liberal arts education. Berens stated, “To many degrees it does not matter what you major in. Whatever you study you must put everything into it; it is all dictated by passion. You have this opportunity to make yourself the best anything you want to be, but you need the passion and the drive. There is no shortage of talented professors at the UW system school who teach you about self-motivation. At the end of the day whatever you decide to study will be less about an education and more about your passion plus your education.” 

As far as Beren’s career goes, he proves his dedication to The Manitowoc Minute through discussion pertaining hot issues. Berens commented, “The drive of the show is to make people laugh and build the bridge between the divided political culture. I try to find a commonality so no matter where someone is on the political spectrum they can relate.”  

According to Berens the two-party system creates massive divides, and he believes there are some things that we must discuss as a society regardless of where we stand politically, “Issues such as Charlottesville and white supremacy must be called out. They are the ugly underbelly of what is going on and if we do not discuss them we are doing no justice to ending them.” 

Berens has been featured on Funny or Die, Fox, CBS and MTV but if he could go back and tell himself one thing in college it would still be, “You can do it.”  

Berens said, “There are so many limitations colleges students are told. You need to get out of college and get a job but a lot of people follow different paths and that is ok. You must believe that you will succeed and work in environments that are fulfilling. These are complicated things to tell a college student but all in all you must trust yourself and things will work.”