It would have been hard to find anyone more nervous about their return to work on Tuesday than Deakin Business School lecturer Adrian Raftery. 

It was last Tuesday that he lit up social media with his exasperated post about the fact that not a single student had showed up to his class on estate planning. 

"I don't know about you but my generation always showed up for lectures and seminars, particularly at the start of semester. Here is my first class for 2nd semester which was supposed to have started 15 mins ago," he said.

"After being pumped up to give a great class, I am deflated that they couldn't bother their arse to show up."

He also made the point that estate planning is a tricky subject and the class is not available online. 

"Students don't realise that their lecturers could be their best advocates for getting a job. What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

Take away their smashed avo?  

While Raftery threatened to "use the ole size 16s" on his students, a LinkedIn post on Tuesday morning showed him settling for a more savvy Gen Y approach, thanks to suggestions from colleagues and the public in reaction to his post.

This included desk changes to make the room less "classroom-sterile", muffins and even a lucky door prize. 

"D-Day is here and let me say that I am more nervous than any job interview that I have ever had in life," he said in a post that included a photo of his empty room 20 minutes before the class started. 

Let us cast aside the moral hazard of bribing young students just to show up to class, and let's see what the results were. 

"Break in class right now so I can update & say 91% attendance at 8am which increase to 94% within 15 mins. Woohoo!," was the triumphant post from Raftery. 

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