When Thanksgiving comes around each year, we spend a lot of time thinking about the people who have shaped us into the people we are today: family, friends, teachers, even our pets. A lot of us don’t consider the people that make our lives easier on a daily basis. For me, it’s Mrs. Olsson.

For a lot of us, the library is a place to scribble down last-minute answers to our math homework and quickly finish 300-word responses for English right before the bell dismissing lunch rings. We don’t realize the effort Mrs. Olsson has put into making the library a resource for everyone.

In the past year, I’ve come to appreciate Mrs. Olsson as a person, not just the school librarian. I joined History Club, participated in National History Day, and even became an officer for the club. All of this run by Mrs. Olsson.

She brings a big box of fresh maple bar doughnuts to every club meeting, buys us pizza for History Day work parties, and opens up the library office for History Club members to eat lunch in every day.

When Maddie Neyland and I moved on to Nationals for History Day, she made a school announcement to congratulate us, bought us candy as a good luck gift the day before we left for D.C., and set up a tour of the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress for us.

When someone goes out of their way to help me, it doesn’t go unnoticed. I’m thankful for Mrs. Olsson and the genuine interest she holds in helping me succeed. Because of her, I’ve accomplished more as a student than I thought I was capable of, and I am inexplicably grateful.