“It’s going to be a great day!” That’s what Katie Thompson thinks every morning as she pops out of bed, turns her swag on (as she calls it), and sings along to “Crazy Beau-

tiful Life” by Ke$ha. She picks out her peppiest matching outfit, skips to the bathroom, and gets ready to see everyone’s smiling face at school. Downstairs, she’s greeted by king cake, fresh fruit, and homemade bread. “Hi, Mom!” she says as she picks up the cookies, brownies, and fudge she baked for her classmates, heads out the door, and bounces along to school.

Katie’s motto in life is: “Smile, because you never know whose day you’re going to make!” Her natural optimism amazes me and every-one else around her. She was just born with it! She gets her practicality and sense of humor from her dad and her playful-ness from her mom. Have you ever seen Ka-tie turn her smile upside-down? Probably not. She loves doing things for others and getting them to smile by cart-wheeling on Founders Terrace, baking, or just being all around goofy and spunky.

“Congrats to the basketball team for winning last night!” she yells as she bursts through the door into English class, lighting up the room with her smile, fist pumping like a champ. She goes through the day hand-ing out her wide variety of treats to spirit buddies, teachers, and birthday boys and girls while chit chatting with any passersby: “Oh, there’s Paul Soniat! Paul, I miss having classes with you! It’s good to see you!”

Katie loves the simple things in life. Her favorite moment of the day while skipping down the halls is noticing another’s smile and their sudden burst of happiness. How is she so happy all the time? “Well, it’s basically just the mentality of it,” she says simply. “If you want to be happy, then be happy!”

As Katie walks to lunch, her smile brightens even more—if that’s possible. Not only does she get to do one of her favorite things—eating—but she also remembers Ms. Majett’s email sent out the day before. “Rocky River Bars!” she yells with excited tears rolling down her cheeks. (Really, she was that excited.) After will-ingly filling up any dish that’s empty, she dances over to the salad bar and catches up with John Karlin while making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. While spreading her peanut butter, she spots Greer Turner. “Greer!” she says with a jolt and a smile. “You were

sick yesterday! How are you feeling? I really like your top!” With a belly full of Rocky River Bars, she finishes the rest of her day at school and starts her extracur-ricular activities.

When it isn’t soccer or softball season, Katie is a Trainer in Train-ing after school and has helped almost every athlete. “I love being a Trainer in Training,” she says. “You get to see every athlete’s progress and help them get bet-ter!” She knows every-one and their conditions and feels a familial con-nection to all of the ath-letes she helps. “Yano! Let me wrap that for you! Jack—shin splints, I’m guessing. I’ll take

care of that! Be with you in a second, Nicole!” For Katie, helping, giving, and smiling are some of her favorite things to do, which is why she loves doing what she does and helping make others’ lives a little easier.

I love Katie, and it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t feel the same way. She’s always thinking of others and trying to spread “the happy” to everyone. “Ellie!” she said to me one day. “It looked like you were a little down in class yesterday, so I brought you a king cake to brighten your day!”

Only Katie would bring someone a king cake because they got a fifty-four percent on a verb quiz. She’s the best!

Optimism 101By Ellie George

Katie Thompson