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Founder’s Feature – January 2025 Edition

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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.

Welcome 2025!  

I’m definitely here for it, and while there were many lessons learned, I’m glad to see 2024 in the rearview mirror.

January Feature of the Month 

I love nothing more than a new year and a new agenda or planner. As an older educator and a master of executive functioning, I still prefer an old-school paper planner. For me, it is the best way to ensure that I don’t miss an important occasion or appointment. While my professional life is overrun by Outlook invites and Jane appointments, I have always kept my personal life well organized and colour-coded in a JSTORY calendar. I only write in it with a Ticonderoga pencil; I mark my holiday days with washi tape, and I only use a very specific highlighter to indicate birthdays. I also use transparent sticky notes to keep it neat and organized. All links are below! 

  1. The best planner for do-it-yourself and creative students (this is my planner!) 
  2. The best planner for structured and ready-to-go students
  3. The best planner for in-between students
  4. The best planner pencils (fun) The best planner pencils (sleek)
  5. The best planner highlighters
  6. The best planner washi tape (You can find it at specialty paper stores, and they ship direct to the US, but not Canada)
  7. The best transparent sticky notes for your planner

Happy planning and here’s to not missing any important dates or deadlines in 2025!

January Cookbook of the Month

I checked out What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers for the week after Christmas. I did A LOT of cooking and baking from the 21st to 25th, so I was looking for some new, easy inspiration. The chapters are organized by how long it takes to make the meal: 15-ish minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 1 hour. The recipes are easy to follow and use fresh, clean ingredients. I really liked the “key” that came with the recipes, too: Chamber’s includes “RIFF” notes that are set up so that “once you know how to cook one recipe, you actually know how to cook ten recipes!” and “LEARN” notes that are explanations of why you were doing a step in the recipe. Some of our favourite recipes were: Peanutty Pork and Brussels, Everything-Crusted Tuna with Snap Peas & Tahini-Jang Sauce, Cruncy Honey Harissa Fish Tacos, and Cheesy Beef & Sweet Potato Flautas. Here is a photo of our favourite: Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs & Veggies. 

January Favourite Recipes of 2024

I get asked often by readers what are my go-to baking recipes. These are the two recipes I made the most in 2024. I made these Sarah Kieffer Coffee Blondies at least twice a month. One of my favourite friends is a professional chef, and she asks me to make these for her every time I see her. Everyone loves them, and the kicker is they are so simple to make. You literally can’t goof them up. My second most popular recipe of 2024 is Sally’s Baking Recipes Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. But I have a secret ingredient: Trader Joe’s Salted Caramel Chips. They are SO GOOD- the perfect ratio of salt to sweet. A total chocolate chip cookie game-changer. This recipe freezes really well, too, and there is nothing better than a cookie with your first cup of morning coffee.  

January Book of the Month

I try to read a few young adult books a year to stay in touch with the genre. I really enjoyed The Grace Yearby Kim Liggett. It is a dystopian novel where girls in Garner County are sent away for their 16th year to release their magic and return to society purified and ready for marriage. No one speaks of “the grace year” before they go or after they return. The novel seems a cross between The Hunger Games, The Lord of the Flies, and The Handmaid’s Tale, yet it is very much its own story and commentaryIt shows girls at their best and their worst; it is gritty and often raw. I enjoyed the part of the plot that revolves around the giving and receiving of flowers as messages and symbols. I had so many thoughts and questions; I would highly recommend it for a book club pick. I’d find it a really, really interesting conversation as a generational read- how would a 16-year-old experience it compared to a 76-year-old. 

January Article of the Month 

My neighbour dropped off an issue of December’s The Atlantic Magazine with a sticky note, “You must read this.”  It included an article entitled How the Ivey League Broke America,” by David Brooks. I’ve featured articles by David Brooks in Founder’s previously. The article is, essentially, a history of Ivy League admission since 1933 and a fascinating commentary on what has gone right and mostly wrong, debating privilege, intelligence, meritocracy, and elitism as applied to education access. Beyond pure IQ, standardized testing, and grades, Brooks argues to redefine merit around four crucial qualities: curiosity, a sense of drive and mission, social intelligence, and agility. It made parents’ frustrations with the US admission process so tangible. Parents see the qualities their children have and believe in them wholeheartedly, but admission never really gets a sense of these qualities or places little value on them in the current process. 

My new favourite interview question is going to be: What tabs are currently open on your computer? If you read the article, it will make perfect sense. 

January Podcast of the Month 

We did it!!!  Semester One of Admissions Office Canada is in the books. Our tenth episode was released December 24th. This has been such a fun journey. With course selection just around the corner for grades 10 and 11, there are some great episodes to listen to if you are considering an arts, science, engineering, or business faculty. Want to know the inside scoop on the Macleans ranking? Considering a small university? Or want an insider’s peek into the admission office or insight from Canada’s premier education futurist? It’s all here for you in Semester One.

To read more Founder’s Features, check them out under the Options News category.

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