Next Week, My Son And I Are Going To (The Same) School Together!

Now that’s something you don’t see everyday! Both son and dad returning to school together. And to the same school as well. What are the odds?!

Did the universe plan this all along?

Okay, I hear ya. I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let me backtrack to what led to this new chapter in my family’s annals.

He Used To Sleep Under My Office Desk

With a header like this, you would think I’ll have a picture to show for it. Well, I don’t.

Given that any picture I took of this would be from more than a decade ago, let’s just say I’ll need to do quite a bit of digging. I mean, c’mon, don’t you snap at least a handful of photos on that mobile Apple or Android device of yours everyday? How many pictures does that add up to in a year? How about ten years?

You get the picture (pun fully intended), right?

So no. Even if I’m sure I took a couple of shots of my son under my office desk, I don’t or rather haven’t the patience to go dig through my many photo galleries to find the relevant picture. So the above generic one will have to do.

Anyway, back to the story.

It’s very likely my son’s connection with my school began from under that desk!

You see, I was a full-time tertiary lecturer at a local polytechnic during his formative years back in the early 2010’s . And because the school provided childcare services for staff, I naturally placed my son (and later his younger brother) in that childcare when he was little. Made drop-off and pick-up a lot more convenient for me.

And sometimes, if he needed to be picked up early but I still had to work, I would pick him up and bring him over to my office. My dear pre-schooler would then sit with me and play his games while I worked. Or if he’s tired or unwell, I would lay a rubber mattress on the floor beneath my desk (which was large and L-shaped) and he would take a nap there.

Many of my colleagues (mostly ladies) were parents themselves so the office environment was very pro-family. Everyone thought it cute and no one, not even my boss, would object to having a kid around. In fact, many of my colleagues often bring their little ones to work too.

So over a decade later, to find him returning back to this same school, but this time as a matriculated freshman, feels like we’ve come a full circle.

Best part? I’m returning with him too!

“It’s Been Three Long Years. Do You Still Want Me?”

Since 2018 when I pivoted from being a full-time lecturer to a part-time one, I’ve continued to teach in the same institution I left.

Right up to three years ago.

As an adjunct, one is often at the mercy of the institutions we service. And this one was no different. Though I left them in 2018 and they continued to have teaching hours set aside for me every semester right up to early 2023, I was aware that every semester there was always a chance they had no classes for me.

To hedge against that reality, I had also started teaching part time in two other similar institutions so my calendar was still fairly jam-packed most of those years.

Then reality bit.

Starting from the April 2023 semester, I stopped getting any classes from my institution of origin. Thankfully the other two continued to offer me classes to teach, so I wasn’t put out too much.

Still, there was a sense of disappointment coupled with nostalgia for a school I had given the better part of my 20 years in teaching to.

Would I ever return there to teach again?

The answer came at the end of 2025.

We Need You. Come Back To School!

Towards the end of 2025, reality bit me again.

One of the two institutions dropped me like a sack of potatoes for reasons not revealed (though I have some inkling why). Suddenly, I realised I had more time but also less money!

Time to return to my “alma mater” and see if, after three years, would they have anything for me. Anything at all!

Thankfully, they did. There was a bumper crop of classes to teach in 2026 for a cross-disciplinary module and they badly needed tutors.

The same year my son is joining as a freshman!

Maybe that’s why I’ve had to wait three years. So I can return with my son beside me! Not as the preschooler sleeping under my office table, but a legit, matriculated, full-fledged student.

And me, the dad and legit adjunct lecturer right along with him.

Life huh?

As Doris Day once sang, Que sera sera. Whatever will be will be. The future’s not ours to see. Que sera sera.

For now, I’m just going to enjoy the serendipity of it and maybe start to take more pictures of him (and me) on campus. For starters, here’s a mug shot of our respective identity badges placed side by side.

---

If you enjoyed reading my thoughts and wish to support what I do, please consider donating, using the button below.
Thank you so much!