MLIS student Teresa Temkin has a lot on her plate. From earning her degree to interning in Washington, D.C. to owning her own business, Temkin likes to keep herself busy.
Temkin previously earned her B.A. in European History and Asian Studies at Vanderbilt University. In December, she will graduate from FSU with her Master’s in Library Science.
On top of her impressive educational background, Temkin also interns at the Department of State in Washington D.C. There, she works in the Bureau of European and Asian Affairs’ Public Diplomacy section. She engages members of the public, think tanks and political groups in an effort to promote mutual cultural understanding and support of U.S. policy goals. She works with a wide range of people, from foreign officials to members of the media.
She says, “At the end of the day, I feel like I have created a relationship with which to move forward, and have shattered or at least lessened stereotypes and negative views that individuals might have had about the U.S. when they arrive.”
Additionally, Temkin has interned at the George Bush Presidential Library, where she worked with the preservation of materials and created a guide to holdings for researchers. There, she was able to sharpen the skills that she learned in pursuit of her degree, such as the practical use of metadata tagging methods and organization. Temkin also has international experience from another internship at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium.
At her current internship, she leverages her entire educational experience and is able to incorporate everything that she’s learned by creating surveys and utilizing research methods.
Temkin hasn’t always wanted to work in government, but she has known that she wanted to do something where she wouldn’t have to complete the same rote tasks every day. Luckily, she hasn’t had that problem with her government internships.
She explains, “Both my internship with the National Archives and with the State Department have granted me the chance to be innovative in what I am working on.”
When she isn’t busy studying or interning, Temkin enjoys reading, trying out different recipes and watching football and ice hockey.
Temkin also owns her own small business in which she creates waffle irons. After seeing waffles with logos on them and wanting one, she designed the waffle iron and had it manufactured.
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