A Wandering Social Worker

I was first introduced to the idea of overseas social work while studying for my BSW a few years ago. The thought of living and working in an entirely different city, country - even continent - was very exciting, but also incredibly frightening for this small-town girl. I had decided to stick with my small-town existence with the goal of working in Children's Mental Health for our community branch of Children's Services. Then, life happened the way it is inclined to do, and I was faced with the opportunity to run away. In 2008 I spent a few months in Ireland - at the time a difficult period of my life - which prepared me for my new life... wanderer!

International social work practice gives me the opportunity to earn money, see the world, and have new experiences, and the idea has crossed my mind several times since, but only recently have I overcome the fear of the somewhat-intimidating paperwork. GSCC applications, reference forms, employment histories, extensive Curriculum Vitaes (gosh their resumes are different in the UK); all previously acted as a great excuse to not proceed with these plans. But not any more.

My name is Jenni-Raie Merritt, and I am a Canadian-trained Social Worker.  I have completed my Competency Interview, submitted my GSCC application, and am counting down the months until I leave for London-Town. Dave has been a big help in this process, and I am excited to be a contributor to this Traveling Social Worker blog. I have been following blogs of a variety of ex-pats in London, but there aren't a lot of social workers documenting their time; hopefully this blog will serve to fill in that gap.

You can follow me on my own blog, She Went Away where I chronicle my travels to places like Ireland and France and through life... and the QSW application process!

See you around,

JR