My last day of being MVP

My last day of being MVP

Yesterday was my last day of being Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. There are several cases where you may leave the MVP Program:

  1. breaking MVP agreement by, for example, sharing confidential information
  2. lack of community activities required to be renewed
  3. resignation
  4. joining Microsoft

In my case it was the last point – today (1st of September 2020), I am joining Microsoft as an Azure Technical Trainer in Worldwide Learning team.

My journey

I have started my journey with IT many years ago by passing Microsoft Certified Professional exam in 2005. Since then I have been working on a few different positions including System Engineer, IT Specialist, Database Administrator and Independent Consultant. It was a bumpy road with many challenges, but with the help of others, I was able to move forward. In the beginning, my main focus was on technology, and I have been believing that technology is the key.

1st milestone

One of the milestones in my life was the challenge that we had during the studies with the Internet Service Provider (ISP) – ISP was blocking the possibilities of sharing the Internet within the flat that we have been renting. I have started to dig about the solutions of the issue and there were two options:

  • use some Linux-based device (router) with software increasing TTL (Time To Live) – quite safe option with many tutorials on the Internet how to do it
  • more challenging option with installing Microsoft Internet Acceleration and Security (btw. all Azure firewalls GUI started here) software to implement a full-blown proxy solution – this option was much more challenging from hardware and software perspective

As you can expect, I took a more challenging path with many failures during the implementation. However, I have learned that you have always at least two options, no matter what types of challenges you encounter during your life.

2nd milestone

The second milestone was when I have started my first permanent job with Metrosoft and the way how my manager (Jurek Połczyński) immersed myself into corporate life. It was the first time when I have travelled to the customer in the UK for the deployment of the software. You can imagine that it was extremely stressful. However, after successful deployment – satisfaction was also significant. I have learned that with most of the barriers are in our head, and with hard work you can achieve more than you expect.

3rd milestone

The third milestone was when I started working with ABB. As a part of the onboarding process, I had sessions with a great professional and mentor – Charley Hanania. He started the spark about the community and that our biggest gift is the ability to help others. In some way it is related to the next milestone: PASS Summit in 2012 in Seattle, WA – it was my first trip to the United States and I didn’t know what to expect there. Whenever I am travelling somewhere I have some expectation and picture how the place would look like etc., but each time when I am reaching my destination it is different than I expect. Don’t take that it is worse or better – it is just different. On the conference, I was attending both pre-confs and full conference (five days in total) and I was amazed by a warm welcome of the other attendees and also speakers. I am an introvert person, so pushing myself to talk to the strangers on the conference was an exhaustive experience. Even though I was on the other side of the globe, I felt that I can take with the other persons who have similar professional interests. Now I know it is called #SQLfamily ?. The conference itself was like drinking from fire-hose, so many different ideas, a huge amount of information, access to the Product Group (SQLCAT, etc.).

4th milestone

The next milestone was the first meeting of the Polish SQL Server User Group (now it is called Data Community). I have joined the meeting in Kraków, that was and still is led by Tomasz Libera. I felt that a group of professionals that have similar interests and also similar challenges in professional life. After a few sessions and encourages by Tomasz, I have decided to present my first session about HA/DR options within SQL Server. From today’s perspective, I can say that session was terrible, but without this step, I wouldn’t be in the place that I am today. I have been attending PLSSUG meetings frequently and polishing my presentation skills from time to time.

100th meeting of Data Community Krakow chapter

This led to the next milestone – being co-leader of PLSSUG Krakow group and helping others to succeed with many different goals (first presentation on a local group, on the conference, solving technical issues, etc.) The learning from that milestone was that a group of person can do more than a sum of individuals.

5th milestone

After some time I wanted to taste how the life of consultant looks like and thanks to Charley Hanania, I was able to work with clients around the globe with many challenges and opportunities (like being MCT Coach on the Microsoft Inspire conference in Las Vegas, NV). Very inspiring for me was visit in Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA, where I have seen many great examples of human inventions like Lockheed M-21 Blackbird with D-21B Drone, the first every built Boeing 747, Concorde, Apollo Command Module and many, many more.

Statue of Michael P. Andreson

Statue of Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson with a quote: “Dreams really do come true”

After many hours of discussions with Charley, I have decided to apply for MVP and finally, in April 2020 I have been awarded.

On 1st of April 2020, I was awarded Microsoft MVP

The lesson from that milestone is that you need to be careful about what you are dreaming – because it can happen.

6th milestone

Today, I am starting a new milestone in my life – joining Microsoft as an Azure Technical Trainer helping Microsoft’s customer to succeed using new technologies. I am very excited and at the moment I feel like having in my hand a ticket to the amusement park with many roller coasters and other attractions.

Of course, achieving these milestones won’t be possible without the help of great people (like Charley Hanania, Łukasz Grala, Paweł Potasiński, Tomasz Libera, Kamil Nowiński, Mihail Meteev to name only a few). With the help of them, I have realized that the technical aspect is required, however, people are the key.

Summary

I find the very inspiring speech of President of United States of America, John F. Kennedy at the Rice University, especially the part: “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard

Azure coffee

Lean back and enjoy the Azure

I hope that this blog post is inspiring for you to start leaving your comfort zone and exploring new possibilities in your life. I am not leaving SQLPlayer blog nor Data Community, so expect new blog posts and virtual meetings in close future.
Do you have a similar milestones situation in your life? If so, please share them in the comments section below!

 

 

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About author

Michal Sadowski
Michal Sadowski 13 posts

Senior Database Platform Engineer, leader of Krakow chapter of Data Community Krakow - PASS Chapter. With more than 10 years of experience in Microsoft technology, helps in advisory for performance optimization on database and application levels. Holds many Microsoft certificates including MCSA: Windows Server 2008/2012/2016, MCSA: SQL Server 2012/2014/2016, MCSE: Data Platform and MCT.

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