My journey to ACM-ICPC Regionals Europe! What did I learn?
Disclaimer: It’s a bit of a long read.
So, before starting a long journey, let’s get to acquainted with what ICPC is, shall we?
So, what is ICPC?
The International Collegiate Programming Contest(ICPC) is an algorithmic programming contest for college students. Teams of three, representing their university, work to solve the most real-world problems, fostering collaboration, creativity, innovation, and the ability to perform under pressure. In order to know more about it, do visit https://icpc.baylor.edu/regionals/abouticpc
So, what’s the hype? It’s just another Algorithmic Programming competition, right?
Truth be told, yes, it’s just another algorithmic programming contest.
But wait, why is a trophy involved here?
Because ICPC is the World Cup of Algorithmic Programming Contests.
Wait, what? A world cup?
Yes, Competitive Programming is a sport and we do have a world cup for the same.
Does this make me the best programmer out there?
Yes, and No
This does give you good credentials, but this is also ( like other sports ) a team game and it does show you, along with your team, can perform at the highest level there is.
Ok, that’s interesting. So, how do I go there?
So, let me tell you a small story, a story about a boy who had this big dream of reaching the ACM-ICPC World Final.
This guy, who tends to be me, started preparing a long time ago but jumped into full force only in the last year.
Why so, all of a sudden?
Maybe because I got bored with my 9–6 job and wanted to get back into the game. Maybe because I felt the urge to do something again.
But that decision, which was taken while sitting in front of a monitor of the company I worked for, I had no idea, where that would take me.
So, how did you manage it?
Well, once a decision is made, then you have to follow through it, without thinking of the negative consequences. So, I did too.
Apart from my 9–6 job, I started to work on my coding skills at night. When I used to get small breaks in the office, I tried to solve problems. Slowly, I started feeling the rush for this, I started loving code yet again. I had regained my love for Computer Science and it’s underlying technology, yet again. I wanted to do things again. The passion, which was partly lost when I started my job was rekindled again and I believed I could do something yet again.
That’s all well and good. But what of it? Did you end up making something off this?
Well, partly. This newfound love for Computer Science helped me make a big decision in life. The decision to pursue a Masters. But then, the road seemed hard, because who would want to leave a lush job for at least 2–3 years of uncertainty?
So, my love for coding and technology and the support of my parents landed me in the Netherlands at the University of Twente, where I joined to pursue my Masters in Computer Science and fortunately with that, got the chance to participate in the ACM-ICPC competitions once more.
So, did you end up going to ICPC?
Now, we had to clear 3 rounds to reach the ACM-ICPC World Finals.
The first round was intra-college, which was called Twents Algorithmic Programming Competition(TAPC).
Yes, we did perform decently and we were going to The Benelux Algorithm Programming Contest (BAPC), which was held at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the next round and the precursor to ACM-ICPC Northwest Europe Regionals.
We didn’t perform too good in this round and I had a small feeling that this is it.
We finished #55 and thought surely, they wouldn’t select the 55th ranked team to go to the ACM-ICPC Regionals. Would they?
So, with a heavy heart, we returned home and thought, surely, it’s over.
But with maybe, a stroke of luck, we came to know that the top 2 teams for each university would be allowed to go to the ACM-ICPC regionals, which was going to be held at TU Eindhoven.
And we were apparently the 2nd team from the University of Twente.
Wait, what?
Did this just happen?
I couldn’t believe my luck. It was happening after all.
My reaction to the news never did justice to what was going on inside of me.
So, you did go to ACM-ICPC?
Yes, finally the news came that we can go to the ACM-ICPC North-West European Regionals as one of the teams from the University of Twente.
As we made our way across the country and into the auditorium of TU Eindhoven, I was left spellbound and astonished at the events that were unfolding. A dream, which was seen long ago, just in front of my eyes now. I could see people practicing diligently for the competition and this is where I made the first mistake, I panicked.
So, after everything, it unfolded that I panicked when I shouldn’t have.
And that did cost us badly.
Even though we managed to perform quite good in the practice session, we were left with nothing in the main contest.
The questions left me overwhelmed and I failed, failed to solve a single problem during the contest.
The result of this?
We were rock bottom at the end of the contest.
I could literally see the dream coming to an end in front of my eyes and I was literally powerless to do anything. So much hard work to reach this place, all gone.
It was probably the most heart-breaking event ever and we had to return home, empty-handed.
But is the journey over? Did I give up?
NO!
Not yet. I still have one more year of University life left and I am willing to try again 1 last time.
Maybe this time? Maybe not?
But I know, for one thing, I won’t give up now, so easily.
One thing I learned, it will never be enough. I need to practice more and solve more. There can’t be an end to the hard work needed to reach the goals I’ve set out to attain. One thing I believe :
Well, that’s all for now.
In the following blogs, I’ll try to share how I prepared so as to reach the ACM-ICPC Regionals North-West Europe and how I intend to practice harder to maybe go one further.
Thanks for reading.
If you have managed to survive the entire blog, do give some claps, it will encourage me to write more and learn more.
