Hi, Codeforces! 2025 is almost over, so I decided to post some things I learned from this year's olympiads.
It's been a crazy year for me — I participated in 6 olympiads and even managed to get a gold medal in JBOI and EGOI. There was so much I learned, so I decided to post the 6 most important lessons.
Also, I definitely still have a lot to learn so please share your own stories and lessons learned in the comments!
Lesson 1: It's okay if you're unmotivated
How can you stay consistent when you’re not motivated? Well, the answer is actually... don’t. I spent way too much time during the school year trying to practice and stay as consistent as the previous years even though I didn't really feel like it.
Being unmotivated doesn't mean you don't enjoy CP as much — maybe you're just tired, stressed, or disappointed by your performance in a contest (which is not necessarily wrong!).
Practicing should never be something you do just because you have to. Nothing will ruin your motivation more than CP feeling like a chore, so simply practice whenever — and however — you feel like it.
Lesson 2: Less practice > Too much practice
After a year without much progress in Codeforces, I decided to work as hard as possible before EGOI (the first OI of the season). I only had a week between returning from holiday and leaving for Germany, so I made a plan with daily IOI VCs. I knew it would probably be too much work, but I thought I would realize if it was and simply take a break. Spoiler alert: I didn’t.
My performance got worse with each VC, and soon I lost all motivation to continue. However, I kept going until I gave up in the middle of a contest and decided to take a break. That’s when I told Dremix10, who told me I only felt I needed to practice because I’d never tried to just relax before a competition — so that’s what I did.
Taking a break certainly paid off — I performed better than ever on EGOI and got a (very unexpected) gold medal!
And it wasn’t just EGOI — My best performances weren’t in the OIs I practiced the most for. So, if you’re tired, or start feeling unmotivated, just take a break.
Lesson 3: Follow your strengths
Apart from the OIs, I also participated in JBMO — my second time there and last attempt. Because I mostly prepared for OIs, I only started seriously preparing for JBMO about a month before the competition. As I solved past problems to prepare, I realised combinatorics problems were often really close to CP problems, which I was obviously much more experienced at. So, although I knew combinatorics problems are usually 3rd or 4th (so among the 2 hardest), I decided to spend most of my time on that problem during the contest — and it worked!
I got 9/10 in the combinatorics problem, although it was the 4th (and hardest) one, and got a bronze medal. Not because I practiced a lot, but because I knew exactly what my personal advantage was and based my strategy on that.
The importance of this is even more obvious when thinking that I also didn't get many points on the 1st problem, which a lot of contestants solved — and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get more points even if I spent more time on it, which was what I'd normally do. What is easy for you might be much different than what most of the other contestants find easy.
Lesson 4: Stress isn't the end of the world
Right before JBOI, I was seriously panicking. Gold felt too hard to achieve, but it was already such an important goal for me that I couldn't give up. My biggest worry was that the stress would affect my performance — and it definitely does have some effect on it in every competition — but being anxious about a competition won't stop you from performing really well. In fact, stress can actually help you lock in and perform better during the contest.
And here's something you might forget sometimes: everyone is anxious before a contest. It's not a disadvantage that only affects you. Experience definitely helps, but no one ever participates in a competition with no stress at all.
Sure, no stress is always the ideal scenario, but that's practically impossible.
Lesson 5: Take breaks
During COI (Cyprus OI) Round B, after solving 2/4 problems, I needed to clear my head and decided to take a break. So I went to the bathroom and tried to relax — and the change of space helped me realize that I was trying to get 100 on a problem that I probably wouldn't solve, which was (obviously) not the best strategy. So I decided to just get the points I could definitely get on that problem and focus on the other one, which turned out to be the right move.
I already knew breaks are a great way to clear your head, but I only thought you should take one when you feel you need it. But after that competition, I realised you should also take breaks throughout the contest to check and rethink your strategy. I'm aiming for at least once per hour (Although I'm still working on it), to make sure I don't spend too much time on the wrong thing.
So what is the best way to take a break? For me, it consists of three steps:
- Leave the contest hall: Go to the bathroom for a change of space. Bonus points if you need to walk for some time to reach it.
- Clear your head: Take a few deep breaths or even recite something from memory to focus on something different
- Revise your strategy: This is the best time to think of what you've worked on since the last break, what mistakes you're making and what to focus on next
Lesson 6: Nothing is impossible
You’ve heard this one before countless times — but you probably don't realize it's true. In every award ceremony, I remember looking at the gold medalists and wondering what standing on the stage among the best feels like.
The truth is that most things feel impossible until you achieve them. Most of my achievements this year were things that I never expected.
So aim high, work hard, never give up and you'll achieve things you never thought were possible.
My goals and plans for next year
I'm officially a senior (Although I'm still in denial XD), so I can only participate in IOI, BOI and EGOI. My current biggest goal is to get an IOI silver, and I'll try to practice as much as possible before IOI. Of course, I also want to improve my place in the BOI and EGOI ranking.
As for Codeforces, I really hope to reach master (But first I need to stay CM for more than 4 contests in a row XD)
I also plan to post some tutorials on CP topics — More on this soon!
And finally, a few thank you’s
There's so many people I'd never have come this far without:
- Dremix10 — I never would've come this far without your constant support and guidance
- ALeonidou — You've taught me pretty much everything I know
- To all the members of the COI community who supported me since day 1 — Thank you for everything — You inspire me so much
- To all the teachers and TLs — Your support on every step of this journey has been invaluable
- To my teammates — No olympiad would be the same without you
