[Original Post 20221215]

1. Development: I need help in professional development and community exposure. The value of taking action on the advice, insight, and wisdom from someone who has been down that road and cares enough to point out my blind spots and places to level up is priceless. I want to increase my influence within my teams and with co-workers. I want to be a high-value asset to my organization.
2. Emails: It can take me 45 mins to write a two-sentence email. 
3. Documentation: I overthink and need help quickly asking and answering the question, “who is my audience”.  
4. 10X My Effort: I want to 10x my efforts in 2023 with accountability. In January 2019, I attended my first SQLSaturday in Nashville and found out that anyone could submit to speak at a session. I submitted my session a month later, and from June 2019 – Feb 2020, I taught 17 sessions at 13 SQLSaturdays around the country. And in Nov 2022 gave my first presentation (virtual) at PASS Data Community Summit. I am forever thankful for the opportunity those people gave me. I am a go-getter who usually gets things done using brute force and tenacity. I need advice and strategy from someone who is blunt, honest, and does not sugar-coat things. In short, please tell me what I need to know and point me in the right direction. 
5. Give back. This mentorship program will increase my network by getting to know the other mentees and help give me the resources and opportunities to give back to a community that has given me so much opportunity and guidance within my personal and professional life. 

[Why I wrote this Post]

Paul S. Randal of SQLSkills has opened his mentorship program for 2023 and I’d like to be a part of it. The most important requirement to be considered was for me to write a blog post explaining why I would like to be mentored and then post the link in the comment section of the blog post. The deadline was Thursday, 15th December, at 23:59:59 PST, and I’m happy to say that I posted the link with a few hours to spare.

Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash

[Update 20221228]

It’s official, I’m on the list for the Paul Randal Mentoring class of 2023. If you read the post, he tries to be a little sneaky and shady. Paul first writes that he can only take 15 of the 33 who put their names in the hat. In my first reading of the post, it seemed that he listed everyone who “applied” and then listed the 15 people who got accepted. So, to see if I got picked, before reading the entire post, I simply searched for my name. If my name came up twice then I was in the program. Well, my name only showed up once and I thought, “at least I put my name in the hat.” Well, Paul flipped it on us and took everyone. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m looking forward to what I learn and implement. I’ll make sure to document the process at least via blog posts.