River Forest, Ill. – Junior Kamryn Klinger of the Dominican University Women's Soccer team was awarded one of the ExcEL Scholarships, to fund her trip to Brazil to represent USA.
 
The ExcEL Scholar Awards are designed to provide gap funding support to undergraduates who want to build hands-on educational experiences into their Dominican University careers. Students who wish to pursue or design an internship, civic learning, independent research, study away, study abroad, a creative work or entrepreneurial project that will accelerate their professional growth, deepen their scholarly knowledge, and / or actively engage them as citizens of the world.
 
In her application, Kamryn wrote, "Traveling over 5,000 miles and playing in four soccer games while embracing Brazilian culture is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. With the trip lasting 10 days, there is enough time to experience the culture and monumental aspects that could not be seen otherwise". She also wrote, "Experiencing Brazil's culture and natural beauty while participating in the country's national passion, soccer, will be life-changing and I am hopeful that this experience will teach me personal growth alongside social and community connection".
 
In the 2024 Women's Soccer season, Klinger was a stud on the pitch finishing 2^nd team All-Conference in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). Klinger played in 18 of the 20 games this season and started in 15 of those 18 games. The junior was 7^th in minutes on the team with 1,292 minutes played, tallied 5 shots on goal, and 1 assist from the back line.
 
Congratulations, Kamryn, on this achievement and we wish you the best of luck in Brazil representing Team USA and Dominican University.