At Michigan State University, they tell you the Spartan logo lives everywhere. Even at a lacrosse practice 9,410 miles away.
To the University of Sydney, Isabel Olson is a neuroscience and biochemistry student. To her lacrosse teammates? She’s an MSU fan — always repping the green and white.
“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.”
