At some point in every kid's life, they're allowed (or, in some cases, forced) to go with their parents to their workplace in a semi-renowned cultural tradition known as "Take Your Kid to Work Day." For some, this is a chance to visit their mother's or father's workplace and learn about their parents' careers and day-to-day work lives. Though potentially tedious, this is, by and large, a one-time occurrence.

Jacob Kamps, on the other hand, spends almost every day at his mother's workplace. His mother, Colleen, is a contract lecturer at Ryerson University's School of Child and Youth Care, and Jacob has played on the Rams men's hockey team since 2018. A third-generation Ram—Colleen's father and Jacob's grandfather, Claude William (Bill) Kamps, graduated from Ryerson in the late-1940s when it was still a polytechnic college—Kamps is thankful to be in an environment that's familiar and conducive to his educational and athletic success.

"It's always been such a great support system," Kamps said of having his mother so closeby. "It's always been such a great thing having her."

By all accounts, the two ended up at Ryerson by coincidence; Colleen became an instructor following her graduation from the university's Master of Arts (MA) in Child and Youth Care program, and Jacob became a Ram when a lengthy career in junior hockey led to an NCAA Division I commitment that eventually fell through. Assured by his previous connections with Rams coaches—and enticed by studying business in a fast-paced environment—Jacob committed to the Rams.

"You decide where you want to go, and I will support you 1000 per cent," Kamps' mother told him when it came time to pick a university. 

As coincidental as their situation is, the Kamps don't routinely run into each other on campus—Jacob lives in downtown Toronto while Colleen resides in Jacob's hometown of Pickering, Ont. Still, Colleen is happy to have him at the institution to which she's devoted so much of her professional life. 

"It is kind of cool," Colleen remarked of having her son attend the school at which she teaches. 

"Thank goodness I don't teach him," she added with a friendly chuckle.

Growing up as an only child to a single mother, Kamps was always reminded of the importance of getting an education; his mother believed in him as a hockey player, but needed him to have an educational background to support himself should his dreams not materialize. 

"You have to be a scholar as well, you can't just be an athlete," Colleen would tell him. 

"Not to squash his dream, but [he] was going to get an education," she later reflected.

Though Kamps has never read any reviews of his mother's teaching on RateMyProfessors.com—he purposely avoids them for his own peace of mind—he's proud of her ability to bring her own professional experience into the classroom. Before Ryerson, Colleen worked in private practice, consulting with various counselling and specialized mental health firms, which she continues to this day. In addition, she taught (and still teaches) at both Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and Centennial College. 

"She's able to bring real-life experiences to these kids," Kamps noted. "She's able to actually show them, not just a bunch of lecture slides, but her own experience."

Added his mother: "I love this field of work."

As for his mother's long-term impact on his academic career, Kamps notes that he's exploring potential graduate programs to further his education. His mother may not be the driving force behind his interest in pursuing a master's degree, but she certainly helped show him the value of an advanced degree, he admits. 

"I've definitely been looking at the MBA program," Kamps remarked of his plans upon graduating from the Ted Rogers School of Management's (TRSM) Business Management program. "That's something that I definitely would be interested in."

And so, while Jacob Kamps has established an identity of his own inside Mattamy Athletic Centre, he nevertheless has someone in his corner who can help him navigate university life off the ice and in the classroom.