“My favorite (piece of merchandise) is so basic, probably shouldn't even be my favorite,” Olson said, holding up her favorite T-shirt. “It's just the one that says Michigan State. I think it's just so quintessential college merch vibes. I wear it to training all the time, my teammates get a real kick out of it.”

Despite growing up in Wagga Wagga, Australia, Olson developed an attachment to MSU after befriending MSU students at Michigan’s Camp Newaygo last summer. She decided MSU was her school — at least in terms of school spirit — and has been collecting merchandise ever since.  

The first piece she bought wasn’t meant for herself, but for her aunt, who happens to be a big fan of Zeke the Wonderdog. 

“I have no idea how she found out about this, but she's obsessed with this dog, and she's like, ‘You're going to Michigan, you have to get me Michigan State everything,’” Olson said. “We were at Goodwill one day, and there was a shirt, and I was like, 'Oh, I'll just get it for her.’ But then I ended up wearing it, and it sort of became my thing.”

Olson stayed in East Lansing for a week after Camp Newaygo ended, even attending a football game. The atmosphere surprised her, especially because she thought she’d become a University of Michigan fan. But “the green was calling” to her. 

“It was just awesome because it’s so unlike anything we have here,” Olson said. “Even the rugby games we have here, that's the big sport, but it's nowhere near the football games … everyone wearing the same shirts and the stripes in the stands.”

Olson doesn’t remember the actual football game or who won that night, but she remembers the marching band, cheerleaders and school spirit, something that differs from schools in Australia.   

“It's just a different attitude around it,” Olson said. “I'd say there's less of a school spirit. It's more of an individual team thing, like you'd never have the whole school come to a soccer game or a rugby game.”

After deciding MSU was her school, Olson continued to thrift merchandise while in the U.S. She currently has at least 10 unique pieces with her in Australia, as well as several she had to leave in Michigan. She plans to come back for the clothes that she left, but has still found MSU sweatshirts and shirts at secondhand stores in Sydney. 

Olson joined the lacrosse team at USYD this year and frequently wears Spartan gear to practice, which led her to seek out MSU lacrosse merchandise for her collection, starting with a Reddit post that briefly shared her MSU connection. 

“I wear a lot of my MSU merch to training and now have a bit of a rep as a state fan,” Olson said in the post. “I'm on the hunt for lacrosse jerseys/merch/training gear … If anyone could point me in the right direction or knows anyone who would be willing to sell/send over some stuff, that would be super appreciated!”

The MSU community responded. Some gave her names of players interested in selling old gear, and others sent her to the MSU Official Bookstore website. One person even offered to contact their fraternity brother in Australia to assist with shipping. 

“I was really quite surprised at the response, like I wasn't expecting anything really,” Olson said. “There's a really, really good sense of community … I think it's awesome that people like to see other people engage, especially me being overseas. It's really cool to see how people have responded to that.”

Olson reached out to MSU lacrosse players she found via Reddit and was waiting for a response as of late last week. She plans to message the team directly once school starts, and might order MSU lacrosse gear from the bookstore if international shipping becomes more affordable.

 And when a flight becomes more affordable, she’ll be back in East Lansing.

“The second I can come back over, I will be back over,” Olson said. “It's my favorite place in the world … it's a gorgeous school, really, really beautiful. If I get another opportunity to visit my friends there, I'd love to go back.”