# July 2025 newsletter Canonical URL: https://gabrieldalton.com/writing/newsletter/july-2025 Date sent: 2025-08-03T17:01:15.456Z Author: Gabriel Dalton Original Substack URL: https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/p/gabriel-daltons-july-newsletter [All newsletter issues](https://gabrieldalton.com/writing/newsletter) 03 Aug 2025 3-Min Read Traveled Croatia & London, Turned 17, Completed Product Marketing Internship, Published My TKS Reflection, Applied for Viceregal Patronage, Pursuing the Order of BC, and Pushing Toward 25,000 Trees ## Hey friends šŸ‘‹, Itā€™s Gabriel, and I hope youā€™ve had an amazing July! Iā€™ve enjoyed it a lot, as itā€™s my birthday month and I was travelling throughout Europe and the UK. ## What Iā€™ve Been Up To šŸ“ˆ - **Island Adventures:** I travelled through Croatia, going on a cool bus tour to local islands (Lokrum, Å ipan, Lopud, and Koločep) to swim and explore the local history. While there, I had the best burger and pizza Iā€™ve ever tasted. ![Rocky cliffs and blue sea line the coast during Gabrielā€™s island travels in Croatia.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/july-2025/1871586fd18b5f46.webp) - **Museum Highlights:** Visited the British Museum and saw an 800-year-old chess set worth $1,300,000 CAD, plus the [Rosetta Stone](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosetta-Stone)! - **ā€œCentre of the Universeā€ and a 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Space Rock:** I visited Greenwich, home of the Royal Observatory, where Greenwich Mean Time was defined, saw the Prime Meridian, and touched a meteorite from the early days of our solar system. ![A hand touches a meteorite beside a sign saying it is about 4.5 billion years old.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/july-2025/6210d40895d0feae.webp) - **Birthday Milestone:** Celebrated my 17th birthday on July 21, 2025. - **Website Project (Coming Soon):**Planning an upcoming upgrade to the [Vancouver Irish School of Music website](https://www.vsim.ca/). - **Nonprofit Update:** Iā€™ve formally applied for vice-regal patronage from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, for my not-for-profit, Oasis of Change Inc. If approved, that honorary endorsement would give national visibility and credibility to the mission ā€” spotlighting the thousands of trees weā€™ve planted and the sustainable website work weā€™re doing. Wish me luck! šŸ¤ž ![Governor General website confirms receipt of a viceregal patronage application and requests supporting documentation.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/july-2025/936fa6238c669db0.webp) ## Achievements & Highlights šŸ† - **Internship Completed:**I wrapped up the [Formaloo](https://www.formaloo.com/) Product Marketing Manager internship ā€” stay tuned for my reflection article covering my experience. - **TKS Reflection Published:** Spent multiple months writing a deep reflection on my goals, wins, and challenges during my 10-month experience at The Knowledge Society (TKS), which is a global accelerator for youth. Read it here: [TKS Reflection](https://medium.com/@gabrieldalton/the-knowledge-society-tks-review-vancouver-irl-6d7fbb42284f). - **Sugar Break:** Iā€™m trying the FODMAP diet to limit the sugars I ingest. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates that the small intestine absorbs poorly. - **Birthday Challenge Complete:** I set a birthday goal of getting three top TransLink executives to either say ā€œHappy Birthdayā€ to me or like my birthday post, and I did it! One of them said ā€œHappy Birthday,ā€ and the other two liked my post. ![LinkedIn reactions list includes TransLink CEO Kevin B. Quinn Jr. among 86 reactions to Gabrielā€™s post.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/july-2025/0ba8294186c8d4cd.webp) *[View Post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gabrieldalton_im-officially-17-years-old-today-and-fun-activity-7353114551564849153-8aUh?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAEXLF_4B8CKJR5uoaDx6WDhNxhIC0TeNBy4)* Iā€™ve been using TransLink more to explore Metro Vancouver, so the birthday challenge felt fitting. ## Quotes šŸ’¬ > ā€œAn entire generation is currently studying for jobs that will not exist.ā€ > ā€œThe goal of life is to be excited to go to work and excited to go homeā€ > ā€œYouā€™re not behind. As much as you think you are, youā€™re not. You are just too busy comparing a low light of yours to someone elseā€™s highlight. You and I are the worst versions of ourselves today, assuming we continue to improve with each passing day." **Curious about my past adventures?** Catch up on all my previous updates in the **[newsletter archive](https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/t/monthly-updates)**. You never know what gem you might find! ## Shoutouts šŸ‘ - **Family Support:** My entire family has always supported me throughout my life, and I wouldnā€™t be where I am right now without them. - **Newsletter Feedback:** Thanks to Pranav for giving me feedback on my monthly newsletter so I can improve it for you, the reader on the screen right now. If you have any feedback, please reply to this email as I would love to hear your thoughts. - **[Kolapo Akande](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kolapo-a-333241a3/):** Had a fantastic meeting about a potential collaboration between our nonprofits. I connected with the founder of Pledge Software, the team behind [Pactman.org](https://Pactman.org) ā€” a platform that links nonprofits with volunteers and donors. They support a network of over 2.5 million charities. ## Whatā€™s Next? šŸš€ - **Nominate me for the Order of BC:** Iā€™m trying to get the Order of British Columbia medal. If you have time, I would love it if you could nominate me! Iā€™ll tell ya, these monthly updates will be a lot more interesting once I get it: **[Order of BC Nomination Form](https://forms.gov.bc.ca/governments/order-of-bc/)**. - **Summer Job Idea:** The boat trip in Croatia reconnected me with my love for the Earth's oceans and waterways, making me want to work near a marina this summer ā€“ potentially the one where I was born! - **Board Member Aspirations:** Iā€™m very curious about becoming a board member for some organizations in the future, and I have been reaching out to people to learn more. - **Tree-Planting Goal:** I have an ambitious goal of planting 25,000 trees by 2027 through my not-for-profit, Oasis of Change Inc. ## Quick Ask šŸ™ Know someone whoā€™d enjoy following a young entrepreneurā€™s journey? Please forward this email and invite them to subscribe ā€” every new reader helps me grow and keeps the adventure going. Best, **Gabriel Dalton** P.S. Want more behind-the-scenes? For more in-depth discussions, check out my [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrieldalton/) or [Medium](https://gabrieldalton.medium.com/) profiles. [Read this issue on Substack](https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/p/gabriel-daltons-july-newsletter) [Subscribe on Substack](https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/subscribe)