I just received a message from a parent. She told me that her son had been admitted into the Institute of Technical Education.

Now, this might seem like a normal notification, but her son who was in my form class during his lower secondary years gave me lots of grief. When we parted ways and he moved on to upper secondary, he ran foul of the law. Rather severe.

He was sentenced for a stint at the Singapore Boys’ Home.
Which inevitably disrupted his learning at my vocational institution.

So, for him to turn his life around from his sentence was nothing short of miraculous. He eventually took a workplace literacy test and apparently did well enough for him to gain admission into further education.

I don’t know if he will stay out of trouble from now on, but at this point in time, he is doing fine.

Amidst the upheavals of those turbulent years, I would never think that I could see him advance so far — but he exemplifies the point that some kids really need years to mature.