Anders Lihme

Student

“I went through the Internet to get to SMC. A friend of mine in Sweden told me it was a great school and so—with my computer—I got the applications sent to me.”

He’s a little worried about his size. At 6’7” and 250 pounds, Anders Lihme is concerned that he’s not quite big enough. At least not for his current passion: professional football. “I played for the Swedish National team, and we did pretty well at the European Championships in Berlin. We played in front of huge crowds against all the other countries, and won the bronze medal. And when I switched from defense to offense,” he continues, “I won ‘Tight-End of the Year’ for my country.” But to step up in the ‘big league,’ Anders explains that he’d have to grow some more.

“I could have gone pro in Europe, but it would have meant becoming much faster and stronger through at least a year of weight training.” So, in order to ‘grow’ in another direction, Anders set his sights on SMC and playing offense for the Corsairs. “I had learned that the football program here was excellent,” says the native of Christianstad, Sweden. “But it was always my goal to get an education at the same time I was playing sports. So when I came to SMC, I got into Liberal Arts because, in this program, you read about everything and then decide on what to do with your life. And in this way,” he continues, “I discovered that I enjoy psychology, and sports psychology may became my career.”

Anders reports that Corsair football is alive and well. “We have great receivers and an experienced quarterback, so we should do a lot of my favorite thing: scoring points,” he says with a laugh. But a diving fourth-quarter catch in the end-zone is not as important to Anders as a college degree. “In Europe, success in sports can put you in touch with all levels of society. But even then you won’t make much real progress with your life unless you have become an educated person.”

Back