Hello guys, Tonight I am going to look back at my CP career and analyze my growth, opportunities, shortcomings etc and discuss the mistakes I made, opportunities I lost and what can my fellow competitive programmers learn from it.

My journey in CP began six years ago, when I was a freshman in my university. I met some guys and they were like, "Bro, you need to do CP bro, you are totally gonna nail it". At first I didn't take them seriously, I was busy with my research on "Subatomic Particle Acceleration with Large Hadron Collider". My research was on the way to making a breakthrough, and as the only guy in my university with any clue on what this subject is about, everybody had high expectations off me. But I started CP anyway. I picked some 800 rated problems on CF, and decided that it was too easy for me. And I love doing easy stuff because that make me feel good. So I started solving problems in CF. Eventually, I got bored with 800 rating problems, so I started solving 1200, then 1400, then 1600, 1700, 1800 and 1900s. And in between, I did some contests and became CM. Suddenly, I realized that it's been 6 years as an undergrad student and I am no longer an undergrad student at all. As a result, my research on "Subatomic Particle Acceleration with Large Hadron Collider" was left behind and I never made any breakthrough.

Growth, Opportunities and Shortcomings

Since I started CP, I have spent a lot of time sleeping, which I couldn't do while I was researching "Subatomic Particle Acceleration with Large Hadron Collider". So, the biggest growth I had was that I had a lot of sleep. My body did better recoveries as I got a lot of rest and surpassed the break-even point. As a result, my body, mind and soul went through developments which probably wouldn't have happened without doing CP. For example, before I started CP, I was 5'9". Now I am 5'10". CP gave me the opportunity to touch and smoke some grass that I was lacking in my life, and made me realize that there is more to life than particle physics. My only shortcoming was, that I couldn't start CP earlier. But again, if I started earlier, I probably would have gotten bored of it too soon and have gotten back at my research on "Subatomic Particle Acceleration with Large Hadron Collider". But again, if I started even earlier, I probably wouldn't have began my research on "Subatomic Particle Acceleration with Large Hadron Collider" and wouldn't be in this inconvenience to begin with.

Lessons and advices for my fellow CPers

My first suggestion to my fellow competitive programmers would be, if you can, try starting CP earlier. Also, there is a 5 in 6 chance that you are probably not Chinese, so there's not much to be stressed out. My next advice is to solve 1600s, 1900s, 2200s and 2500s in CF. A friend of mine said, they are very fun to solve. Last but not least, don't research particle physics, it might ruin your life.

I hope you found this blog informative and helpful and my shared experience has meaningful impact in your life. Like and subscribe if you found it helpful. Let me know if you have any more advices or suggestions in the comment section