The biggest project of my life was being born in 1971. That project was the first project I was part of in the Netherlands, which did not meet the planned deadlines. I was born 3 weeks past the original go-live date, or so I am told. But since I was a product of the project and not the projectmanager, it doesn't count. ;o)

Up till now (touch wood) I have only been part of two projects, that did not meet the planned deadlines. The second project which failed to reach the original deadline, was during my student period. I studied Germanic Languages at the College of Education majoring in English and German. The normal period of time to get through all the classes and the period after which you can consider yourself a graduate is 4 year. It took me slightly longer: 1 year.

Ever since I started working after my life as a student, I have been interested to be part of projects, whether at home, work or the sportsclub. My first official project started when I was working for local government in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I wrote a proposal to work at the backlog of permit requests. Even though many people thought it would not be possible to execute my project, we still managed to finish in time, with the right quality. That was quite an achievement, of which I am very proud.

My next project was taking a sabbatical leave. I stayed in South-Africa where I became trainer/coach of 2 korfball teams (Springs Klub and Nigel Klub) and several Provincial teams (Gauteng East). I really enjoyed my time over there travelled a lot and learned a lot as well. After this I became president of the Technical Committee at a korfball club in the south of the Netherlands. I was responsible for the creation of the technical policy of the club, which is still used today (after 5 years).