PAY IT FORWARD

Hello,

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October 5, 2023 marked the wonderful conclusion of an initiative that entered my life just over a year ago. It all began on November 19, 2022, initiated a month earlier by Krasimir Iliev. I will delve into some details below to emphasize how important it is to be open to the opportunities around us and to harness them like wind in our sails to discover new and often unexpected adventures and fruitful territories.

Finding myself in a turbulent phase of my life, Krasimir Iliev presented me with the idea of organizing something for the students at UKTC ( National Professional High School for System and Computer Technologies (UKTC) ) (I’m alumni of UKTC) to share experience and knowledge about databases, making it useful for them. I thought about it for a bit and, with my usual enthusiasm and naiveté, I dived in. That's how the idea of creating a "Database Circle" on a voluntary basis at my beloved UKTC was born. The idea was for it to be a voluntary course, aimed at all students from the 2nd to the 5th grade (first-year students were already busy and overwhelmed, and as it turned out, fifth-year students were too preoccupied with themselves). We set a date, sent out invitations, and gathered them. I created an initial plan, and on November 19, we began. Sixteen students signed up.

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My idea was not just to teach them SQL or how to use a database but to build a foundation in them to understand how databases actually work, not just how to use them. If you know how something works, you can use it much better compared to just learning usage patterns without understanding why they are that way. In short, the task was for the students to create a DB Engine, and how big it would be depended on their pace.

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And so, we started with a very simple rule: "If it's not fun, anyone can leave at any time," applicable to me as well. And the following expectations: "I have a brain to think!", "Only hard workallows us to make others look like monkeys!", and "We are here to develop, not to prove ourselves."

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We divided the participants into 3 teams. The tasks I planned were significant for individual participation (although as it turned out later, some managed on their own), and I also wanted to support team development, not just database learning, including elements like collaborative design, task planning and execution, code repository, integration, etc. All things, normal in the software industry for the execution of any team project.

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I won't go into more details. That deserves a separate and detailed story. The important thing is that several key things happened in the process. The students dedicated themselves entirely to the circle (some dropped out along the way, but I believe they gained something too). They dedicated themselves so much that they invested hundreds of hours of their free time around the clock, as it turned out. We calculated that the circle consumed nearly a full human year or more precisely, 35 human weeks (1390 human hours).

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This dedication led to the creation of four separate DB Engines with the power of Dbase or Clipper from the past. They covered all the basic functionalities such as create, drop, insert, select, update, delete, join, shrink, export, import, join, help, error handling, insert/update type validation, and dynamic structure. They implemented binary search, storage in textual form, but also in binary. Visual interfaces, text interfaces, command line execution, and in one case, they even went as far as implementing ANSI SQL execution. The students exceeded even my boldest expectations of how far they could go with strong brainstorming, and as I told them several times, "You've made a monkey out of me!"

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At one point, I shared this adventure with some very close colleagues and friends of mine - Slavi Slavov Slavy Slavov , Angel Mitev Angel Mitev , Valentin Pavlov (87203) Valentin Pavlov , Boris Stefanov (87504) Boris Stefanov , and Georgi Kremenliev (87208) George Kremenliev , and they became excited when they heard about the students. They offered to think about how they could help me. I invited them to be part of the jury to evaluate the performance, and they immediately responded. Valyo shared that he also wanted to deliver lectures. Slavi and Angel proposed the excellent idea of financial assistance and creating a reward fund to make the students realize that strong brainstorming is never unrewarded. Initially, we toyed with the idea of awards, but it quickly became clear that the best thing that remains is the inspiration that infected even such outdated "professionals" like us. We decided to direct the reward fund towards creating a legacy from the students for the school itself, and that was well-received by the school's leadership. Thus, the idea of equipping a new IoT laboratory was born, inspired by the students themselves.

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And so, as of yesterday, this laboratory is a reality, fully equipped with 16 Raspberry Pi 4Bs, kits with over 104 educational projects, and everything necessary to learn about technologies in this field.

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I will conclude with the words of Slavi Slavov, addressing the students during the ceremonial opening of the laboratory: "We do this not because we seek any reward or benefit. We do it because it's time for us to give back, just as we once received. And this is the most important message for you. Pay it forward!"

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I want to sincerely thank everyone involved for allowing me to be part of this incredible journey with you.

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The students (sorted by invested time):

Alexander Denev (20101)

Georgi Oreshkov (19303)

Kristiyan Oreshkov (19314)

Vihren Pironski (20108)

Daniel Dimitrov (20109)

Katerina Petrova (19519)

Deyan Malchev (20111)

Ivaylo Jambazov (19212)

Teodor Kolev (19227)

Ivan Kolev (21127)

Dragomir Zlatanov (20408)

Konstantin Petkov (19216)

Antonio Vidov (20305)

Dimitar Bogomolov (20407)

Ivaylo Moev (20212)

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UKTC Leadership:

Mr. Sirakov

Mr. Iliev

Mr. Kolev

Mr. Nachev Vencislav Nachev

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Ideological support and jury:

Angel Mitev

Boris Stefanov (87504)

Valentin Pavlov (87203)

Georgi Kremenliev (87208)

Slavi Slavov

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Additional lectures:

Valentin Pavlov (87203)

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Financial support and jury:

AIOPSGROUP (a valantic company) AIOPSGROUP a valantic company

Sciant Sciant (now Sirma Group)

Hristo Hadjitchonev (87425)

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Sincerely yours,

Hristo Hadjitchonev (87425)

#UKTC National Professional High School for System and Computer Technologies (UKTC)