Jack Kleiner (he/him) graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2025 from the College of Liberal Arts with a BA in Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, and minors in LGBT Studies and Adult & Organization Development. Centering patient advocacy and sex education, he aims to keep the majority of his research accessible and delivering practical applications.
As a peer educator, Jack spent most of his years at Temple involved in the student organization Peer-Led Sex Ed, in which he acted as Co-President of PLSE for over a year providing comprehensive and shame-free sexuality education to other students. He was also a Diamond Peer Teacher (Spring 2025) for Introduction to Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies with his mentor Dr. Jennifer Pollitt. Also with Dr. Pollitt, he developed and regularly gives his presentation on Psych Meds & Sexuality, exploring how psychiatric medications affect sexual function and how to manage these effects.
Jack interned with nationally recognized sex educator Erica Smith, M.Ed. in 2023 where he developed "Crisis Averted: A User's Guide to Real Reproductive Care (And Avoiding Fake Pregnancy Centers)." This guide has been distributed to places like the Women’s Law Center, Adolescent Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Abortion Access Front. He has continued creating resource guides on various sexual and reproductive health topics. Following his GSWS research capstone "Beyond Sheer Luck: The Continuing Impact of Conservative Evangelicalism on Sexual Health Policy and Education Since the AIDS Crisis," Jack produced in a series of resource guides teaching people how to prevent HIV with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and prevent HIV in many different ways as a part of the Diamond Research Scholars Program (2024).
Continuing his interests in sexual health, Jack is now studying in the University of Pennsylvania's Master of Public Health Program.
Currently, I am studying to receive my MPH and to go into the field of public health. I am focused on patient advocacy and education, especially as it relates to sexual and reproductive health and wellness. As much as I enjoy research projects, I also want to get out of the books and work with and for vulnerable people to make more tangible, direct and positive differences in their lives. I am interested in program evaluation and health communication, as well as providing adult sexuality education in a variety of mediums.
I spent the better part of my last two semesters at Temple working with the Career Center on my graduate school applications. I felt I was really struggling with my essays. At the time of applying, I was aiming to complete a dual master's program in social work and public health (and now I am just seeking the public health degree). As I worked with the Career Center, I learned how to articulate and explain my goals and ideas about my career and education. While this translated directly into several essays that got me into the schools I hoped for, this also led to me being able to consistently explain my goals elsewhere and be more confident in presenting myself. It also forced me to constantly reflect on my future plans and desires in many different ways. In doing this, the Career Center was instrumental in helping me realize what I currently want to do.
I always feared going to the Career Center because I didn't want to face thinking about my career or what I'd do after college. But the Career Center helped give me confidence in myself and helped me realize that my career can and will be flexible and change over time.
There is one thing I tell every single person whenever they're unsure of what they're doing in life or their career: No one knows what they're doing, not really anyway. Not even the people you or I have put on pedestals as people who "obviously" know what they're doing (they don't). We are all on the same journey of life. We all know something that can help someone else, and when we don't know something there is somewhere out there that does. But none of us know everything and none of us know exactly where we'll be in ten years, five years or even next week, even if we think we have a plan for it.
So my pieces of advice: (1) Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" and to ask for help. (2) Be sure to talk to lots of different people in many different positions in life. Learn about their journeys until now and what they may be wondering about. (3) Don't put pressure on yourself. Easier said than done, but adding pressure to "figuring it out" doesn't help you figure out that thing. There are probably a number of things you'd enjoy doing, and none of them are wrong choices.
If you don't know what you're doing, or where you're going or want to go, that's actually totally fine. Let yourself not know, and explore the many possibilities and listen to your gut on where you want to take the next curious step.