Improve Your SQL Server Skills By Helping Others

Participating in forums and newsgroups is a great way to improve your SQL Server skills. You will see other people's problems and if you are just starting out then just relax and read the responses. The responses are most likely from a SQL Server MVP and these are top-quality. You will see many familiar authors in the MS public newsgroups such as Kalen Delaney, Itzik Ben-Gan, Adam Machanic, Louis Davidson and more. I have encountered SQL Server problems and remembered that I read about this on a SQL Server newsgroup and that a person posted a solution, from then on it's quick Google search and there you have it.

MS Public SQL Server Newsgroups
microsoft.public.sqlserver.newusers
microsoft.public.sqlserver.programming
microsoft.public.sqlserver.server

And a full list here

BTW these newsgroups can also be accessed by a newsreader as NTTP

Besides the newsgroups I also participate in the SQL Server Tek-Tip Forums for programming and administration What's great about Tek-Tips is the fact that people give stars to people who post a useful solution. So this will give you more incentives to post a good solution. You can also write searchable FAQ's

Tek-Tip SQL Server Forums
programming
administration

Like I said before you don't have to post solution but do at least spend some of your time reading the solutions to people's problems because sooner or later you might encounter them yourself.