T-SQL Tuesday #121: Gifts received for this year

Words: 401

Time to read: ~ 2 minutes.

T-SQL Tuesday, the monthly blogging party created by Adam Machanic, is still going strong. This months T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by Malathi Mahadevan ( blog | twitter ) who asks us…

“[…] what are a few things would you consider as gifts, and why?”

Invitation Post

There are many items that I consider gifts. More than I can reasonably write down in a blog post. So, in the interest of brevity, I’m going to break it down into gifts of SQL past, the gifts of SQL present, and the gifts of SQL future.

Gifts of SQL Past

I have been gifted with being mentored by DBAs that were knowledgeable and passionate about the Data Community.

I have been gifted with mentors who encouraged me to go to User Groups, volunteer at conferences and soak up as much data learnings as I could.

I have been gifted with mistakes that I have made in the past that have allowed me to learn from them. (I have definitely been gifted with the knowledge of how important test labs are!)

Gifts of SQL Present

I am gifted with a job that seems to actively repel me away from any sort of comfort zone. 

I am gifted with an active Data Community on Twitter, Slack, and in person for any issues that I run into.

I am gifted with a PowerShell community on Discord and Slack who seem to be constantly battling for the right to call themselves the “most welcoming community”.

I am gifted with a shrinking of borders so that anyone anywhere can be considered a helpful resource to a data question.

Gifts of SQL Future

I’m being gifted with new technologies to help out with old and new problems.

I’m being gifted with a field that is ever-changing. Fluid, dynamic, and will never become stagnant nor boring.

I’m being gifted with putting names to welcome faces and meeting up with new Data Community friends.

Mostly though, I’m being gifted with the opportunity to help others out in the future. Whether that be with blog posts, tweets, talks, examples, or just encouragement.

As good as all the previous gifts are, I believe the best gift is the gifts that you can give back. So, here’s hoping that the next year sees us all help more than hinder, learn more than laze, and teach more than troll.

Those are what I consider gifts.