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.
Favourite Recipes for October
I bake weekly for my team. And, while I do it year-round; I love fall baking the best. There is something about autumn flavours that I find grounding, inspiring, and comforting. Year after year, these are my team’s most requested recipes. I thought I would share them with you to fill your homes (and maybe your offices, too!) with fall smells and treats.
Favourite Zucchini Recipe
Favourite Pumpkin Recipe
Smitten Kitchen Ultimate Zucchini Bread
(I know zucchini isn’t really a fall flavour, but we still have so much of it around, so I thought I would start with this.)
Favourite Apple Recipe
Favourite Maple Recipe
October Book of the Month
I find my reading habits in the fall change and lean more into non-fiction. I just finished such a fun read: Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian, by Ellen Jovin. This will be my new go-to graduation gift. Ellen Jovin set up a table outside her NYC apartment and answered passers-by grammar questions. She then took her grammar table on the road and answered questions across the country. In her book, she tackles the most commonly asked grammar questions. I especially loved the chapter “A National Obsession: The Oxford Comma;” this is a heated debate in our inter-generational office. Other standout chapters were: “Whom Ya Gonna Call?,” “Gerund v. Present-Participles,” and “Good Fun with Bad Words.” I know what some of you are thinking, YES, I’m that geeky, and proud of it.
October AI Focus of the Month
As many of you know, I have an unhealthy research obsession with AI and its effects on certain post-secondary degrees and careers. I feel an incredible responsibility to understand how this will affect our students in a three-, five- and ten-year window. But I also constantly research AI and its influences on our students’ study and academic habits. In June, MIT Media Lab released “Your Brain on ChatGPT,” which researched what happens to adolescent brains in the writing process when they do and don’t use ChatGPT. Holy shoot: I wish every educator and parent would read this. In summary, it concluded: “Students using ChatGPT showed lower brain activity, weaker memory recall, and less ownership of their writing. Their essays were well-structured and grammatically polished, but they learned and retained less.” The study was widely covered in many American news outlets. Here is the actual study. Here is a great summary of the findings directly from MIT’s Dr. Nataliya Kosmyna in an interview with CNN. Please, please watch it. She is fantastic. Finally, this article by Risepoint has clear, practical, and easily applicable suggestions for using AI in the writing process for all of us.
October Restaurant Feature of the Month
In late spring, I went to Dear Gus Snack Bar in Mount Pleasant with a few friends. We went on a lovely, warm evening, so the sliding doors were open and the restaurant spilled onto the sidewalk; it felt more like Europe than Vancouver. Dear Gus is owned by Options alumni, Rachel Lee, and is named after her 10-year-old miniature Holland Lop pet rabbit, Gus. You can see her alumni feature here. It was a fantastic evening. Our server was so helpful and so humbly knowledgeable that we felt comfortable asking questions to learn from her expertise. The food was fresh and unfussy, but full of unique combinations and seasonal bounty. I can’t wait to go back and experience it this fall.
October Gratitude of the Month
Every year, we look forward to the CUE (Canadian University Events) counsellor day. It’s when we get to connect with all our admission friends and colleagues who keep us in the know. They share the nuances of their admission processes and their insider information. This helps us form the best strategy for our clients. They are invaluable to what we do. It was so fun to check-in with them and catch-up, both personally and professionally. I loved looking at these photos after the event. It is evident how these relationships fuel me and how much I adore so many of these hard-working, student-focused professionals!
To read more Founder’s Features, check them out under the Options News category.
Please note, Options Solutions may collect some compensation from the links.
