Hi @akosinski28! I'd like to echo @pyrrho's welcome. 
I think I understand your question, but I'm going to actually suggest a solution that bypasses the need for SQL variables. One of the cool things about the select menu is that the label and value can be distinct. This means you can implement something like the below:
In this example, I'm populating the select menu with elements from the table but specifically mapping the rating_id and rating_name columns to the "Value" and "Label" fields. This way we obscure the id from the user but can still access it as the value of the "Select" component. I'm pretty sure this should solve your problem!