Flashback: 'I dared to be myself more and more'
Be true to yourself and follow your heart. Life lessons about authenticity that Veronica DJ Giel Beelen (42) owes to two teachers. "The more the teacher, however, the better you learn to be yourself."
Picture: Fred van Diem
“I had a double life in primary school. In class I was a student who got nines and tens, outside the class I did 'chill' as an accomplice of the leader in the class. That changed when I started working for the broadcaster in Haarlem. Radio fascinated me. Before I fell asleep, I turned the dial on my clock radio endlessly. When they were looking for children at the local broadcaster, I answered the call with a neighbor. That's how I got my first radio program.
The way the adults treated me at the broadcaster got me tired of that hierarchy at school. In group 8 I decided: I no longer participate in that childish thing. I didn't even go to camp anymore. I could do my own thing on the radio. At first I imitated Jeroen van Inkel, but gradually I became more myself. Also in other areas. I liked to wear pink and purple clothes, went to ballet and did it for years. Master Hans Weel inspired this. I don't remember what he said. It was a sweet, gentle master who conveyed that you can be who you are. And if you want something? Then you have to go for it. Everything is trainable, was his message. I still keep that in mind in my life.
I also strive to be straightforward. Wim Conijn, mathematics teacher and mentor at Mendel College, was an example of this. My radio ambitions were at the expense of school performance; we had regular contact about this. My work was often unfinished, my grades were poor. Conijn showed in a friendly but firm way that it was not okay. He did not disapprove of me as a person or scold me. One of our funniest conversations was about my pager. The story went around that I was dealing drugs. The pager went off when it was silent on the transmitter. School time or not; I immediately jumped on my bike to the broadcaster.
Conijn was a wise man in his fifties with a cool beard, ahead of his time in appearance. A serious man with dry humor. He couldn't keep me in school. I opted for the radio and later completed VWO in adult education. The more the teacher, however, the better you will be able to choose your own path in life and stay close to yourself. ”
Until his early retirement in 2002 Wim Conin (73) at Mendelcollege as a mathematics teacher: “I am surprised that Giel calls me. He was busier with his radio work than with high school. He got in his way, I often thought. Some children roll through puberty effortlessly, Giel saw you struggle. He was an outsider and sometimes found it difficult to deal with authorities. I am thrilled to see that he is successful in what he loves most of all. ”
