Post by NITHIN M

Three months ago, I started taking Competitive Programming more seriously. Today, I reached Pupil on Codeforces. While the rating milestone feels rewarding, what I'm even happier about is everything it taught me along the way. One of my biggest mistakes in the beginning was trying to learn advanced topics before building a strong foundation. I spent time studying algorithms like KMP and solving problems in the 1900–2100 rating range, thinking that harder problems would automatically make me better. Looking back, that wasn't the most effective approach. I gradually realized that competitive programming is less about chasing difficult problems and more about mastering the fundamentals at every level. To improve consistently, I focused on strengthening topics that frequently appear around the Pupil range—Greedy, Implementation, Constructive Algorithms, and Number Theory—instead of jumping ahead. Following curated resources made a huge difference. The TLE 31 Sheet, NxtWave's curated problem lists, the competitive programming sessions at NxtWave, and especially the CSES Problem Set helped me develop a much stronger problem-solving mindset and exposed me to a wide variety of patterns. This contest itself reminded me that there is still a lot to learn. I managed to solve A, B, C, D, and F, but couldn't find the key observation for E. Interestingly, many participants who solved D also solved E, while I skipped it and moved directly to F because graph and tree-based problems, especially involving DSU, are areas I'm more comfortable with. Solving F turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the contest. That experience highlighted something important: being comfortable with certain topics is valuable, but becoming a stronger competitive programmer requires improving the areas where observations and intuition are still developing. I'm also aware that reaching a rating is one thing, and consistently maintaining or improving it is another challenge altogether. The next contests will be the real test, and I'm looking forward to learning from both the successes and the mistakes. A sincere thank you to everyone who creates curated learning resources and educational content for the competitive programming community. They make the learning journey much more structured and enjoyable. Here's to continuing the journey—one contest, one concept, and one lesson at a time. 🚀 #Codeforces #CompetitiveProgramming #DSA #ProblemSolving #Algorithms #Programming #LearningJourney #GrowthMindset #NxtWave #TLEEliminators