SQL Obsession: Smells like a sweet contest

My wife says I should start with something witty, but since I can’t think of anything I’ll give a little background first.

I grew up in small town Colorado, I met my wife in Chicago where I attended college and lived for over 7 years. We returned to Colorado before the birth of our first child and I found a secure job with the city. My 10 years of I.T. experience is very diverse. I work on web development, server administration, and database administration all on a Monday.

Shortly after I started work (and due to a gap in knowledge and the trend of more applications running on SQL Server) the city tasked me with becoming the resident SQL Server expert. My manager said the MCDBA and MCITP certifications in SQL Server administration exams would be paid for if I passed. So, over the next year I studied, experimented, and worked hands-on with SQL Server culminating in passing with flying colors.

However, as you well know, books and certifications only take you so far. Luckily I found the SQL community on twitter and the wealth of bloggers out there to fill in some of the gaps. The community has really helped support me and my confidence has grown as a direct result.

While I was excited to hear the MCM program branching out and getting more affordable it still is very “pie-in-the-sky” at this point since work has cut the training budget entirely. So when Paul Randal posted on his blog and twitter about making a free seat available for the upcoming SQL Server 5-Day Performance and Internals class in February there was no question that I would put my name in.

This is a great opportunity to get training from what is widely considered the “best of the best” on SQL Server.

If, given this training I believe I would have the knowledge (and confidence) to expand my support for the SQL community (blogging, speaking, helping on #sqlhelp). Coupled with a tenacious appetite for anything SQL Server and a strong work ethic I know I would emerge ready to face the next chapter in my professional development.

Thank you so much for the consideration and the opportunity.