I started my career over 30 years ago as an AP English and Socials teacher. I also co-taught a class called Senior Concerns, which helped students handle the university and college application process. I loved this part of my job and all its nuances, and I especially loved the people development part of this course where our students got to think deeply about who they were and where they saw themselves going. After that, I did an educational leadership master’s and started to oversee the counselling department in our school and eventually became a principal.
Then, just over 20 years ago, my family moved to Vancouver, and I realized I really missed working 1×1 with students and the university admission process. That’s when I started Options Solutions. We help students 14-24 make any sort of educational decision from where to go to high school, to where to go to law school, all while making sure they have the skills to be successful when they get there. Seventy-percent of what we do every day is helping students figure out what they want to pursue for post-secondary and where they want to do that across Canada, the US, or the UK.
Options’ 20th anniversary was last year, and we were throwing around ideas to make Options more accessible for more families. We take our pro bono work seriously! We have connections with many community organizations, and we try hard to make our practice accessible. I also do a lot of free speaking engagements about admission for local schools and organizations. We came up with the idea to start a podcast to extend our outreach. But, let’s be clear, we had no idea what we were getting into. But at Options, we jump in, and we figure it out, learning many things along the way.
My vision for the Admissions Office Canada podcast is to get nuanced, insider, and accurate information directly from the sources to students and families. That’s our primary focus. There is, hopefully, a secondary market of school counsellors, who will find this show valuable to their work. It’s incredibly difficult as a school counsellor to access the type of admission information that we are presenting in compact, bite-sized pieces. Moreover, SO MANY post-secondary admission people are excited to listen and hear from their peers. It was so inspiring to talk to so many university recruiters who were genuinely enthusiastic about the project and cheered it on.
When I worked out the episodes, I wanted to explore dimensional information that would be helpful to families, and I wanted to do it in a way that went beyond what could be read or researched on the internet. We start with an insider’s view of the admission office- which became episodes two and three- really getting into how institutions make decisions. Then we move on to talk to Macleans about how they became a part of the post-secondary conversation. This semester, we have episodes about choosing an arts, business, science, or engineering faculty. We have an episode specifically exploring smaller universities, and our season will finish with a macro-level discussion with one of Canada’s premier educational futurists.
I hope this becomes a place where families find valuable information and free access to higher education professionals, and I also hope it helps families feel more optimistic about the post-secondary admission process and that they embrace it as a positive experience.
I have learned so much in the last five months, and I am already pumped for semester two. There are so many more topics to explore: nursing, fine arts, health sciences, kinesiology, scholarships, accommodations at post-secondary. I see so much potential. I’ve also really listened and learned this semester, and I feel like I have a better handle on the podcast/conversation genre. The goal remains the same: to get valuable post-secondary information out to families.
Listeners, remember, I’m just one woman trying to do good- so listen with an open mind and room for growth. We so want to build Admissions Office Canada together!
Check out our website to listen to our trailer now, and follow along on Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest podcast news.