Fifteen Years In The Database Poem by Natasa To

Fifteen years behind the screen,
Building worlds that run unseen.
Tables, queries, keys, and code,
Turning chaos into a structured road.
I learned the language SQL could speak,
Chasing bugs for days and weeks.
A missing row, a query slow—
"Why did production stop? "
I had to know.
Indexes tuned and procedures refined,
Execution plans carefully aligned.
One little join could break the day,
One wrong condition could block the way.
There were deadlines, meetings, tickets too,
And urgent calls when systems blew.
"Just a small change, " someone would say—
And somehow it consumed the day.
Fifteen years of lessons learned,
Of bridges built and problems turned.
Some answers came at half-past three,
Some bugs refused to let me be.
I watched technology change and grow,
From legacy systems to platforms we know.
New tools arrived, old tools retired,
And every new wave meant skills acquired.
Yet through the years, one thing stayed true:
There was always more to learn and do.
A database to build, a flaw to find,
A stubborn little bug to leave behind.
I learned that data is more than rows,
It drives the business, guides where it goes.
Behind every report, each chart, each screen,
A database works behind the scene.
I've made mistakes, and learned from each,
Gained hard-earned lessons no book could teach.
The years weren't always smooth or bright,
But every challenge sharpened my sight.
Now fifteen years have come and gone,
Yet somehow the journey still carries on.
From writing queries to designing with care,
I've built more than databases there.
I've built my patience, sharpened my skill,
Learned to stay calm when systems stand still.
I've learned that experience isn't just years—
It's lessons earned through failures and fears.
So here's to the code, the coffee, the load,
The midnight fixes and winding road.
To every query, table, bug, and fight,
And every problem we finally made right.
Fifteen years—and I proudly say,
I didn't just work in IT each day.
I grew with the changes, challenge by challenge,
Through every setback, every new balance.
The future still waits with problems to solve,
New systems to build, new paths to evolve.
And wherever the next fifteen years may be,
I'll keep turning data into possibility