I know I am just a noob, I know this post doesn't help you, don't hate and troll the post, but If you have a minute to give me an honest reply
I read this blog post where he was also green, what made you continue doing it all these years, is it so rewarding?
You both became very highly rated, Hiasat Reyna and I'm writing this as a blog instead of commenting to that post, to ask all the other top coders, what they feel
Is it worth the time and effort, should I just close my eyes and spend 1000s hours over the course of the next five years practicing
If I don't do it will I wonder all my life, was it possible for me to become red, I don't know if I will regret not spending the time or spending the time
When do you start enjoying the journey, is it when you look back at your old self?
The rating graph? Color? What makes you smile along the way? Addiction?
Is the satisfaction the same, when you solve something you don't know in div2C vs in div1
I guess I am asking...
Was it worth it?
What did you'll sacrifice, how did you feel when you reached your goal?
What is the goal, color ?
Was it just like the higher you went the more you wanted, never satisfied (e.g. after master, Now I have to be an international grandmaster ... )
UPD: I guess the conclusion is, after a while, If a contest is something I look forward to, it is worth doing :)
Perhaps an unpopular opinion: If you do not start to enjoy CP after solving some problems and participating in a couple contests, then it probably isn't for you. My parents made me play basketball when I was in 8th grade. I had a great time, but I hated the sport, so I quit. CP is no different. Should you spend 1000s of hours doing something you don't like just to get good at it? No. If you do not already enjoy it after exploring, find your passion somewhere else. No one ever (should) force themselves to become the best at something just for the sake of being good at it. That's for you to decide if it is worth spending the time, not others.
I started immediately.
Competitive programming is a hobby. Hobbies are their own reward. Getting things like jobs, big prizes, friends, knowledge of algorithms etc are nice bonuses, but they are not the goal themselves. I chose to take this hobby kinda seriously because I enjoyed it and felt that I could get somewhere here.
There are some things that are important to almost everyone (food, shelter, friends and relationships), but beyond that you define what is "important" to you. And "is x worth something" is kinda defined by how important it is to you.
After years of hardwork in CP , a girl with newbie rating will be selected in Google and you will be rejected :/
correct, as he said above, doing cp is not for the jobs, big prizes, etc
Go back to your own blog. Your comment has nothing to do with this thread.
This happens every time there is some drama/revelation blog: somewhy people feel the need to make pointless remarks about it under every other thread.
When ACPC participation costs were too high, people made irrelevant pointless sarcastic remarks about it under every other blog;
When Indian ICPC regionals (?) had shit quality, people made irrelevant pointless sarcastic remarks about it under every other blog;
When that Karan guy cheated in Google Code Jam (by the way, his score was not really even impressive), people made irrelevant pointless sarcastic remarks about it under every other blog.
You're not making a point, you're not raising awareness, you're just being annoying.
I'm here because of the Olympiads, for me, the reward is not the color in Codeforces, I enjoy a lot programming contests and meeting new people who likes the same things like me! If you do not like this, use your time in something that fulfills you. If you like this, then use your time training and become better. Good luck :)
As you can tell by my rating color, I am not good at cp either. I started to do cp a year ago and I am already in my 30s, so I am pretty sure I belong to the elder group in this community. People may ask this question to me: at my age, why bother? My question to that is, why not. I like learning new algorithms and solving interesting problems. To me, cp is just like going to gym. I'll never be a body builder but I still go cuz I enjoy it and I consider it a good time/effort investment.