The White House to the ‘Burgh’ for First-Year Women’s Soccer Player Lissie Arndt

September 28, 2009 -

Being a first-year student in college can bring about different opportunities, but for women’s soccer player Lissie Arndt amazing experiences began to manifest a little earlier than expected.  Arndt was one of 110 girls that were given the chance to visit the White House and have dinner with First Lady Michelle Obama at a community engagement event last spring.  Celebrities such as Alcia Keys and Sheryl Crow performed at the event and greeted the attendees afterwards.

The event was an extension of the Obama administration’s commitment to engage with the D.C. community and open the White House for arts, culture and educational purposes among women.  It was also part of the First Lady’s celebration of Women’s History Month.  Mrs. Obama and others spoke with students about setting career goals and reaching their dreams.

“It was an amazing experience,” Arndt said. "I was really star struck. I got to sit at a table with two prominent women in the media, Judith Jamison and Janet Napolitano, and was able to meet Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, Phylicia Rashad and Lisa Leslie Lockwood. Throughout the evening I absorbed all of this feeling of self-empowerment through education and belief in one’s self.”

Even though Arndt commuted more than an hour to high school to the National Cathedral School located in Washington, D.C. from her house in Boyds, Maryland, she never learned the full definition of independence until she came to Carnegie Mellon in mid- August.

“I need to rely more on myself – if something goes wrong, I need to move on and continue to work toward what I want,” said Arndt.  

She is a biology and global studies major and would like to someday fuse the two majors together and try to create her own major of medical anthropology.  

Arndt eventually wants to join Doctors Without Borders, which is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect or catastrophe.

The first-year student wasted little time making a name for herself on the soccer field at Carnegie Mellon.  She has appeared in every game this season and scored her first collegiate goal against Centenary College on September 11.

 One month into her college career, Arndt is thriving in the Steel City.  “I love Pittsburgh and its ineffable rustbelt charm,” Arndt said.  “I am really happy here.”