When Stephanie Parent and her son Evan came to Spring Open House at St. Clair College on March 22, it raised a question in Evan's mind.
"Was this for me, or for you?" he asked his mother.
Stephanie's answer: "It's for you, but it's definitely for me too."
That's because despite the fact Evan Parent has been accepted into the Sport & Recreation Management program in Fall 2025, their Open House tour brought them to a very meaningful spot on campus: outside Student Services, where Evan's birth journey began.
It was 2007, and Stephanie was 21 years old, taking Chemical Laboratory Technology and attending school while pregnant. She was in the middle of her final exams for the semester but made arrangements with her professors to get them done sooner, in anticipation of Evan's arrival.
"My program coordinator and the teachers were amazing through my whole pregnancy and everything. They were super accommodating, helping me to achieve my goal and graduate," Stephanie recalls.
But three weeks before her due date during that third and final exam on Nov. 27, 2007, Evan decided it was time.
"There was no way I thought in a million years that for my first baby, I was going to go three weeks early," she thought.
"I was on question number three of the exam, and that's when I looked over at the supervisor, walked over to her, and told her I needed to go to the bathroom," Stephanie recalled.
Not knowing she was in labour, the proctor warned Stephanie that if she left, she may have to forfeit the exam.
"And I just kind of said, well, then I'm forfeiting my exam. And as I said that my water broke right in front of her."
Stephanie walked out into the hallway, where her water fully broke outside the student services office.
"When I walked to the bathroom, I gushed again, and I was like, ‘no, this is the real deal,'" she said.
What happened next was a trip to Health Centre Services, where the nurse confirmed she was indeed in labour.
Stephanie's father picked her up from the College and rushed her to the hospital, where Evan was born shortly after.
Four weeks later, Stephanie returned to school to resume her studies and complete her diploma, often bringing Evan with her in a baby carrier.
Fast-forward nearly 18 years, and now, it's Evan's turn to go to school.
Stephanie received an email reminder for Spring Open House and agreed with Evan that it was a good chance to meet his future professors and tour the school.
"I was just taking him back down memory lane. He was thinking it was pretty cringe, but I thought it was cool because I was showing him the classrooms he came to when he was only a couple months old," Stephanie said. "I said to him, let's go. We're taking a picture right here, literally where my water broke, and you decided this is where you wanted to be born."
The trip down memory lane was a chance for Stephanie to reflect on her past, and for Evan to picture his future.
"It did bring me back to that version of myself again, where I felt a little bit vulnerable. I was scared, and now I'm scared for a different reason," she said. "Now it's almost like I'm scared for him, because now this is the next step for him. This is going to be the next step in his life."
Stephanie is now a professional photographer and owns her own company, Stesha Bella Photography, which has been capturing precious family moments for more than 13 years.
"I might not use the chemistry aspect of my education, but I definitely feel like those lessons I learned during my time at St. Clair I'm able to put into my business, and I feel like I'm able to give a better experience to my clients," she said.
"I remember being in that time, the sacrifices I had to make, the fear, and I remember just trying to navigate it all," she recalled. "It definitely all worked out in a weird, roundabout way."
During the tour, the mother-son duo marveled at the changes to campus since Stephanie's time as a student, including the new sports facilities, which Evan hopes to utilize as a member of the men's soccer team.
"It literally looks like a completely different school, so I was thoroughly impressed, and I actually got excited," she said. "When we went to school back then, it was essentially just one building. Now, there are quite a few. I almost want to go to school again!"
"It felt very nostalgic."
