Throughout the academic year, Melinda Giampietro, Options Founder/President, will share some of her favourite things in her monthly Founder’s Feature. Melinda loves reading, data, research, and following academic and adolescent news around the world.
April’s Gardening Book of the Month
Founder’s usually leads with Cookbook of the Month, but I’m changing it up a bit this spring. I spend a lot of time in April, May, and June thinking about and getting ready for our garden. One of my favourite activities last summer was visiting Bartlett Farm on Nantucket for a cut-your-own-flower experience. It was such a fun way to spend time with friends, and our whole porch looked like a flower shop. It inspired me to plant a cutting garden this summer. I love to look at gardening books for inspiration. Recently, I picked up Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms. It is a truly beautiful book. The chapters are broken up by season and subdivided by Tasks, Bloomers, and Projects. I have a list of things to plant, hints to keep them thriving, and ideas to arrange them. I’ll report back later in the summer with my progress.
April’s Book of the Month
Spring break is great for reading. I pounded out three books; my favourite being the absolute heartbreaker: Heart the Lover, by Lily King. It’s a quick 249-page read. The main character, nicknamed Jordan by two classmates after Jordan Baker from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is fascinating in her quest to balance her needs and her pursuit of love and fulfillment. I thought a lot about how Ms. King portrays the differences between the academic experiences of Jordan and her two male classmates, Sam and Yash. As an author, she is subtle, yet intentional, in her gender messaging throughout the novel. I enjoyed the literary references. The story has stuck with me, and I feel for my plane mates who wondered about my tears as we landed in YVR as I finished the book. This is such a quick, memorable, and worthy read. I just added Independent People, by Halldor Laxness, to my “to read” stack to understand Jordan, the character, more.
April’s Hobby of the Month
This summer, someone close to me introduced me to needlepoint (thanks, MM!!). I have embroidered throughout my life with my mom and my aunt, who were both master stitchers. I appreciate creative endeavours and find it incredibly satisfying as row after row of stitches appear. I’m working on a series of Christmas ornaments now. Here is my exact canvas. If you are a fellow stitcher, I encourage you to check out Erica Wilson and Penny Linn for a good selection of canvases and ideas for finished projects.
April’s Shout Out of the Month
I have sat on the Beedie Luminaries Foundation’s Advisory Board and the SHINE Scholarship Committee since its inaugural year in 2018. It has been such a pleasure to get to know and work alongside Martina Meckova, the Foundation’s Executive Director. I have learned so much from her. Martina is one of Vancouver’s most accomplished social profit leaders and a 2026 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards Nominee. At Options, we are thrilled to celebrate her new role as Vice President, Beedie Philanthropies. She will now lead Beedie’s philanthropic initiatives and funding commitments, advancing Beedie’s #BuiltForGood social responsibility mandate.
April’s Articles Worth Reading
As our grade 12 students approach their May 1st decision-making deadline, we have been talking A LOT about the financial health of Canadian post-secondary institutions and following along on provincial budgets and post-secondary funding. From the caps on international student visas to tuition freezes, there are many factors influencing the budgets of post-secondary institutions. The situation is particularly dire in British Columbia (versus Ontario, which is allowing a 2% tuition increase and allowing more spaces in popular and STEM programs). This University Affairs article is valuable in its history and context on what’s going on in BC post-secondary funding (it’s not good!).
I am an AI fan. It makes my life so much easier in many ways. I streamline my to-do lists, create live time meeting notes, fluff up my presentations, and am currently learning to create images. But I DO NOT trust AI for post-secondary research, especially around admission criteria and deadlines. Because AI synthesizes information, it does not filter for accuracy, nor can it decipher subtle changes, year-over-year. I field 2-4 emails a week from families who have found information that is plainly outdated or flat out incorrect. I appreciated this NYTimes story, “Hey, ChatGPT: Where Should I Go to College?” It points out some of the problems with chatbots doling out post-secondary advice.
April’s Spring Break Highlights
My husband and I spent our spring break in Marin County, San Francisco, and Napa/Sonoma, California. We covered a lot of miles. It was one of our best trips in a long time, crossing off some bucket list items and finding some new favourite spots. We hiked, walked, or biked for an hour to three hours each day. Two highlights included hiking the Dipsea Trail from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach and biking to the top of Mount Tamalpais. I also really enjoyed our visit to Agate Beach and collecting sea glass. My husband is a big Deadhead, so we saw a show at the Sweetwater Music Hall. We found a new favourite San Fran restaurant: State Birds. It is part of the Atomic Workshop conglomerate and serves modern dim sum. So fun. We also really enjoyed both St. Helena and Healdsburg as quaint, wine-country towns with amazing home stores and memorable dinners. We watched the motorcycle trials at Sonoma Motor Speedway; it was so loud. I have to say, though, that the strawberries and Kouign-amann pastries were notable highlights. We hit so many farmers’ markets and bakeries.
Finally, we did re-tours of Cal Berkeley and the University of San Fran. Cal is such an expansive and pretty campus. It was a beautiful spring day, and it was fun to talk to so many students “lawning” on the grass. And USF is in such a great location: on top of a hill and close to Golden Gate Park. Its clean, efficient campus and 360-degree views of the city make it an intimate day-to-day experience, yet surrounded by all the possibilities a big city has to offer.
To read more Founder’s Features, check them out under the Options News category.
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