Recent Freedom High School graduate Camryn Spina will continue her academic and cheerleading career at Rutgers University in the fall.

“I met the coach, and he really liked me, I fell in love with the campus, and it seemed like the perfect fit,” Spina said.

Rutgers’s head coach is Mike Stickle.

“He’s awesome. He’s supportive, and he’s really excited to work with his team and make us the best we can be. You can tell how excited cheerleading makes him,” said Spina.

Try-outs were held on April 14 and 15, but for Spina, it was a couple of years in the making.

“I watch college nationals every year, and Rutgers was one of the few programs that had a whole program make it to finals: dance, co-ed, and all-girl. It’s also a good college football school, and they’re in the Big 10, so I started following them on social media,” Spina said.

Spina then went to clinics and games at Rutgers, including a public performance for the cheerleading squad’s nationals send-off.

“Try-outs were like high school try-outs. We went over what we needed to know, and then on the second day, they officially scored us,” she said.

Summer practices are being held from time to time, but the Rutgers cheerleaders will participate in two camps this August.

In the meantime, Spina is working as a UCA instructor.

“You have to be invited to apply, and then you have to get invited to try out. I was hopeful for it,” said Spina. “It’s the best job ever.”

Spina just taught at a camp for middle school cheerleaders at Daniel Boone in June.

“Being able to see something I love being taught, it was fun watching it all come together,” she said.