Niles native Caitlin Dippo might want to brush up on her Danish.

The University of Minnesota student, whose parents Tracy and Dave Dippo own Redbud Hardware in Buchanan, learned last week that she was a recipient of the Katherine E. Sullivan scholarship.

Worth $25,000, the scholarship will allow Dippo to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark during the 2015-16 academic year.

Caitlin said she got the news while playing Trivial Pursuit at a restaurant and investigating a fact about Denmark.

“I realized I had a new email congratulating me for winning the scholarship. It was just a funny coincidence,” she said. “I think my first thoughts after that were ‘Ah what?’ and ‘I need to call my mom,’ and then just pure excitement. I’d been thinking about this for so long that I couldn’t believe it was actually going to happen.”

Dippo is completing degree in architecture at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.

The scholarship will allow her to participate in design studios through the Danish Institute for Study Abroad and study Danish principles of community-oriented design.

“Part of my tuition costs for the year go toward study tours that allow me to travel to different countries and visit some of my favorite buildings that have influenced many of my own designs,” Caitlin said. “A good portion of my learning will come from living in the city of Copenhagen as it is a classic example of a city that uses design to improve the lives of its citizens.”

The Katherine E. Sullivan Scholarship is funded by an endowment to the University of Minnesota to support a fifth year of undergraduate study to be conducted abroad. The competition is open to students at any of the University of Minnesota campuses who have completed at least 90 credits of coursework.

“It is incredibly humbling and motivating to know that someone believes and trusts in you that much. I am so grateful because this experience completely relied on me winning the KS scholarship,” she said. “I am also very thankful for everyone who was involved in the process. I have a great support team that has been encouraging me from the beginning and I wish I could give them all scholarships for being such great people. Really, I am just so honored and I hope that I can pay this forward one day.”

Dippo grew up in Niles on the border of Niles and Buchanan. She graduated from Saint Joseph High School in South Bend, Indiana, in 2011.