Michal Temkin Martinez
Michal Temkin Martinez, a doctoral candidate in linguistics, considers her work with graduate and undergraduate students invaluable. In her dual roles as president of USC’s Graduate Students in Linguistics and the Linguistics Department’s representative at the College Graduate Student Forum, she serves as liaison between graduate students and the Linguistics Department. Michal also serves as a mentor for a linguistics undergraduate student, has participated in the Undergraduate Students in Linguistics graduate school panel, taught in the Spanish and Portuguese department and served as a teaching assistant in the Linguistics department.
“Along with the opportunity to participate in high-level research programs, I’ve had many opportunities to work with undergraduate students,” said Michal. “For those of us who will be going into academia, this exposure is priceless.”
Michal was born in Petakh Tikva, Israel and moved to Woodland Hills when she was 12. She earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and master’s degrees in linguistics from both CSUN and USC. In addition to her campus involvement, she is also a member of Team in Training – a fundraising entity of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last November she raised $2,500 and completed an Olympic-length triathlon with the organization.
Upon completing her doctoral degree in May 2008, Michal hopes to obtain a faculty position working with undergraduates training for a career in K-12 education. “I feel that there is much work to be done in educating our nation’s teachers about language diversity and tolerance,” she said.