Transatlantic Practice Exchange Blog 1: All the Questions

The first time I applied for the Transatlantic Practice Exchange I was a little overwhelmed by how much I wanted to be a part of it. The idea of a two week trip overseas seemed too good to be true. I knew it would be a competitive process and I successfully convinced myself that both my application and my interview had to prove that I had formed an all-singing, all-dancing plan entitled something along the lines of “How I Will Singlehandedly Change the World”. I completely and utterly missed the point:

The programme isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about having all the questions.

The time for next year’s applications came around and I decided to try again. Getting my application ready was a challenging process, but it felt different to the year before. Everything I read and researched and wrote raised more questions, but instead of feeling terrified, I felt inspired. Whether or not I was picked for the exchange the topic I had chosen had lit a fire in me and I was determined to learn more. I believe that the only way we’ll change things for people experiencing homelessness is to learn as much as we can about approaches and good practice that works.

We’re all wrapped up in our own caseloads, our own organisations and our own cities; but why stop there? Didn’t we all get into this line of work so that we could change the world? Opportunities like this don’t come up very often in our sector. You've got to grab them while you can. If you’re hesitating don’t; apply for the exchange next year: do it, and if you don’t get selected, do it again. The worst that can happen is that you’ll learn something that can help someone. I feel privileged to be one of the 2017 exchange participants and I can’t wait to start the adventure.

Read the reports from the previous exchanges.

To see what we're all up to follow #HomelessLearning