Bekh's blog

My Uninspirational Story from Pupil to Candidate Master
By Bekh, history, 5 years ago, In English

Since everyone's sharing their journeys in cp, I thought I might as well. Hope you don't find it relatable. Here is the timeline of my journey.

  • Got exposed to programming when I was a kid. Had all the resources and guidance I needed to start. Doing nothing was much more appealing back then.
  • Reach 18. Have to pick something to study in college. Everyone is studying cs nowadays so why not jump on the bandwagon? I sit in front of a screen all day anyway so this will fit me, right?
  • It didn't.
  • Hear that big companies that have sleeping capsules and free food ask algorithmic questions in their interviews.
  • Start solving problems.
  • It's not like anything else is remotely interesting. Everything is built above nine thousand layers of abstraction it's fucking impossible to understand shit. Would much rather if people explained stuff in core instead of giving tricks on the surface to memorize to get shit done.
  • Keep solving problems to escape the guilt that i'm doing nothing useful.
  • Addicted to competitions anyway since it's the only source of validation for my fragile ego.
  • Took 3 years for rating inflation to finally happen.
  • ???
  • Share my story and get downvoted to hell but it's not like it matters anyway.

Edit: I was pointed out that this might be demotivating for some. Please note that most of this has been exaggerated for satire purposes (sorry if you were relating up to this point :c). I just wanted to poke these recent blog posts of people having a rate increase in no time.

  • Vote: I like it
  • +515
  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (32)
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5 years ago, # |
← Rev. 4   Vote: I like it +166 Vote: I do not like it

Keep solving problems to escape the guilt that i'm doing nothing useful.

I vote for this as one among the top 3 primary factors that support the growth of this community.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

    what's ur other 2 primary factors?

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      5 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

      Big companies ask Algorithms in interviews.

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      5 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

      not good at math contests so u go into CP contests ezpz

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +17 Vote: I do not like it

So, you enjoy competitive programming or not? Do you care about anything at all?

Nihilistic to the core it seems.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +11 Vote: I do not like it

    it's like 50% meme 50% what everyone thinks to themselves

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Auto comment: topic has been updated by Bekh (previous revision, new revision, compare).

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

Me : I also want to write a story. My Rating : LOL.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +33 Vote: I do not like it

    How I became specialist from specialist in just 7 months!

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

Rating inflation is not that obvious in Div 2 compared to Div 3 and Div 4. You are just getting better ;)

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +85 Vote: I do not like it

Everybody sharing stories? Here's mine: when I was a kid, I practiced math a lot. Then I practiced algorithms a lot. I'm now quite good at both.

Regarding your blog, well, everybody needs a job. If you don't find anything interesting to study, choosing CS is as good/bad as anything else. Maybe people do that for sure for the same reasons. It isn't better to become an unhappy haidresser/salesman/anyOtherJob than to become an unhappy programmer :(

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

    He was joking I guess.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +14 Vote: I do not like it

    Unhappy with plenty of money

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

    My story is almost the same. I'm just waiting for the "I'm now quite good at both" part.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +103 Vote: I do not like it

    "If you don't find anything interesting to study, choosing CS is as good/bad as anything else" — not quite. You earn much more as a programmer than as doing almost any other job, and it's not hard either. It's actually, just like most jobs, a monkey-level profession, so if you do something of no apparent direct value or interesting at all, why not choose the best paying one (at least compared to the effort — there's also finance)?

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    I am not bad at math. But I can't do well during the contest.

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      5 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

      what makes you say, you aint bad at math, if you are really good at math, keep doing implementation and greedy problems. you'll do fine

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        5 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        What about algorithmic problem?

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          5 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

          don't care about algorithm if you cant solve normal greedy problems. I would suggest to do algorithms after being cyan.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +7 Vote: I do not like it

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5 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

Dude. This hits so close to home it honestly feels like a personal attack on me.

Max relate. Bravo.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +21 Vote: I do not like it

What a touching experience!

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -17 Vote: I do not like it

LOL

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +33 Vote: I do not like it

Same. Practicing problems in desperation of being outperformed by those 8 graders.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

Relatable :)

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -57 Vote: I do not like it

Who needs your f***ing story?

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

    Stop interrupting other people with your f***ing words.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

It is actually inspiring to me as a beginner. I at least want to be as good as you in 3 years :)

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

    You don't need such things what you call it 'Inspiring'. All you need to do is just study hard.

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