‘Getting pleasure in exercise, that counts for me’

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“As a child I really liked sports. My sister and I have tried everything: from skating, sailing and acrobatics to competitive rowing. It was clear that I wanted to do something with movement, although I didn’t immediately know that I wanted to become a teacher.

“I found the physical education teacher training quite difficult at first. I did not have as much teaching experience as classmates and was introverted. Being in front of a group felt way out of my comfort zone. That has really changed over the years.

“During an internship I discovered that primary education suits me best. I enjoy watching children grow up from a young age. Every year they can do new things that they couldn’t do before. And the interaction appeals to me: with toddlers you have very different conversations than with children from higher groups.

“I now work at two primary schools where I am given the freedom to shape the program myself. I think that’s important, because with PE you can teach children much more than moving – working together, for example, and trusting each other. For example, I started tutor gym, where students from groups 7 and 8 help with the toddlers.

“Recently we played a game in which children have to work together to cross the hall without touching the ground. I saw a class that had difficulty keeping calm and working as a group a year earlier. They went back on their own when they were on the ground and exuded much more confidence. That is very nice to see.”

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‘For me, the most important thing is that people get and keep exercising. That’s why I also teach at ApenkooiGym, a company that old school gives gym classes with a twist to adults, so that they can be just as fanatical as before. And because I missed the fun of sports myself – in recent years I was mainly busy coaching rowers – I joined an athletics club this summer.

“For example, I spend a lot of time on how I can make exercise attractive, also outside of gym classes. VU University has a master’s degree in education and innovation that I would like to follow to further explore this. It doesn’t matter to me that I can temporarily work less and therefore earn less. Doing what I like to do makes me happy, not a lot of money.

“The most important thing about my salary is that I make ends meet. I have been aware of this from an early age. It doesn’t matter if you want to spend money on sports or in the pub, as long as it fits within your monthly budget. Now that I have just started living together, there is a little more money going out than usual, but that is for the longer term. And we also look at what is and what is not possible.”