Coming Full Circle

When Hendrik Willem was recently appointed as the new Head of United World College in Mostar, it felt to me like his career journey was coming full circle.

When we both graduated from university back in 2000 and obtained our teacher’s degrees, it soon became clear that one of us was meant to teach and work with kids, and the other wasn’t.

It was Hendrik Willem who became a passionate and dedicated teacher – always full of stories about his students and, almost lovingly, sharing the tricks and stunts they pulled.

Soon, he developed further and grew into various leadership roles, from Section Leader to Head of Department and to Head of Academic Year. But while his interest in leadership roles was developing, his passion and dedication for teaching always remained firmly present.  

When we moved to Dubai in 2015 for my work, we were very optimistic about the opportunities in such an international city – with plenty of international schools.

But we underestimated the educational landscape completely. Being a non-native English speaker had a tremendous impact on his career opportunities. We learned that in many international places, a native English speaker is preferred, regardless of the experience and quality that non-native English speakers can offer.

What followed was a sobering and, at times, quite frustrating journey that eventually led him to accept the setback and take on a job as a substitute teacher. With more than 12 years of experience, among others as a leader in one of the top schools in the Netherlands, Hendrik Willem found himself back in square 1.

While we were both very happy and grateful that he found a job, I am not sure that I entirely realised how hard it was to take such a step back. It’s an experience that many expat couples probably can relate to – the international career progression of one often means a set-back for the other.

But little by little, step by step, he continued steadily to rebuild his career, with patience and as the dedicated teacher that he had always been. Joining United World College in China opened the door to renew his leadership ambitions – here, they valued the quality of teachers over native English speakers.

The next milestone was achieved when he got the opportunity to become the Director of Academics at UWC Mostar. Finally, he was back in a position similar to the one he had left when we moved abroad.

And here we are in 2025, almost 10 years after we left the Netherlands and Hendrik Willem is appointed as the Head of UWC Mostar. It’s something we had not imagined when we moved to Mostar. But we are immensely grateful for the opportunity.

And so we will hang around in this part of the world a little longer. Coming full circle before we will, no doubt, go off on another adventure – eventually.

Photo Credit: UWC Mostar