Name: Erik M. Jacobs

Year: Junior

School: College of Liberal Arts

Major: Political science

Home town: Chambersburg, Pa. (Franklin Co.)

Why I chose Temple: "I grew up in a rural part of the state. I liked the country lifestyle, but I wanted to get away from that for a little. The fact that Temple was an urban area was appealing. I had visited Philadelphia in high school and fell in love with the city. Coming to Temple and going to school in Philadelphia would open up doors for me. It seemed like a great opportunity. I always thought that type of personal growth was very important."

Transformative moment: "Ruth Ost, the director of the Honors Program at Temple, told me that I have to take Robin Kolodny's political science course on campaigns and elections. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it, but Ruth really pushed me. I'm glad I did, because Dr. Kolodny's course opened my eyes and broadened my horizons. It was a six-credit course that met six times a week. As part of the course you had an internship with a campaign, for credit. I ended up getting an internship with the Pat Toomey for Senate campaign. That's when I knew what I wanted to do in the future. Being in the class and working on the campaign helped me learn how campaigns actually worked — and that helped me get another internships with Sen. Toomey on Capitol Hill last summer. It was an amazing experience down there, being on the front lines during the fiscal debates. And now, through Temple, I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend the Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay.

"Coming to Temple has been a great experience for me. I got to see the world, and get involved with politics at the city, state and national level. It has opened so many doors for me."