A Although she didn’t graduate from William Floyd, Alicia Arendt spent the first 10 years of her schooling here and still holds her childhood community close to her heart. She has had the opportunity to travel all around the world due to her job as a United States diplomat, working on behalf of the U.S. government serving overseas to advance the interests of the American people. She is proud to share her stories from back home about the schools and towns that she grew up in. Much of Alicia’s family still resides on Long Island and one of her goals is to inspire the current generation of William Floyd students.

Alicia attended Moriches Elementary School, Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School, William Paca Middle School and William Floyd High School, spanning from kindergarten through ninth grade. Her fondest memories as a student are from her field trips to the plant nursery, planetarium and Old Bethpage. When she enrolled at Temple University, Alicia really found her passion while studying abroad.

“With age, my curiosity and ambition exploded into working as much as I could to be able to afford studying abroad in Nicaragua, Mexico (twice), and Italy,” Alicia said. “These experiences catapulted a burning desire for more travel and an international career. I am 35 years old now and I have visited 57 countries, 35 states and still counting.”

The United States Department of State is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency and represents America at more than 270 diplomatic locations around the world. Their main duties are to protect and assist U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad, promote American business overseas, coordinate and provide support for international activities, inform the public about international relations, and advise public officials.

“This career has challenged me beyond limits and offers a constant opportunity to be doing something new and continuous learning,” Alicia said. Some of the many great challenges Alicia has faced in her career include being the deputy manager of a 25-member congressional delegation to various parts of Peru, including the Peruvian rainforest to inspect the impact of the United States Agency for International Development Anti-Coca plant programming in an effort to combat drugs. She also has played key roles in planning multinational conferences and official U.S. Independence Day receptions that included thousands of participants. “I was fortunate to have met former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State John Kerry, and various other U.S. and foreign leaders during these events.”

After traveling all over the world, Alicia realized just how lucky she was to spend her childhood in the William Floyd community. “I was fortunate to be able to go school, grow up in the country’s most populated and diverse suburb, choose an array of activities, and eventually have the opportunity to go to college which led me to the career and lifestyle of my dreams.”

As Alicia continues her work as a U.S. diplomat in Bucharest, Romania, she enjoys traveling back home to visit her family and return to her roots on Long Island for a bit. “During this pandemic it has been very difficult to travel internationally so I have missed my family and look forward to visiting again.”