After participating in 45 contests, with ups and downs in rating and piercing pressure from parents, exams, and academic life, I have finally freed myself from Newbie and reached Pupil after yesterday's contest.

I started learning programming almost 5 years ago, but I didn’t know about Codeforces. Thanks to necro_mancer for introducing me to it. It has been a great experience, but I think the journey has just started. Pupil, the green color, is actually nothing. What really matters is what I have learned and how I will apply it in the future. Indeed, the more you learn, the more you begin to realize how little you know.

However, there were many days when I started hating CP, but this didn’t last long because I believed in myself. I could have reached Pupil earlier, but what I lacked was consistency and a steady solving streak. Then, I started learning more and practicing on different sites. Thanks to pllk for his GOATED CSES Problem Set and the CP Handbook.

I wrote this for those who are still stuck in Newbie and not seeing growth. I just want to say to them: Don’t Lose Hope! I had almost given up on CP when I failed to reach the National Round of the Informatics Olympiad in my country. But Alhamdulillah, I reached Nationals this year. It has increased my confidence and passion more than ever, and I believe that in the coming years, I will be able to achieve my goal of representing my country on the world stage. And also, Soumya1, your gold winning in IOI inspired me a lot.

Finally, I would like to thank MikeMirzayanov for this amazing platform.

That’s all. Thanks for your time if you read it all.