Hey guys, I'm Nico and I've been programming for a while now.

I came across competitive programming about a year ago, but I never really took it seriously. I'm stepping it up a notch now though, aiming to represent South Africa in the IOI in 2024/25/26. I'm not completely sure how hard I'll need to work, but I know it's pretty hard, like a few hours a day most days consistently. It's been about a week now and I'm really loving the easier tasks. Now I've just got to learn some stuff and start doing harder things.

Next time I get a good idea of how close I am to making IOI is in around a year: August 2024. That's when SAPO happens. I'm aiming for top 4, I can already solve the first of the 3 problems in the 2020 past paper of the final round.

I just need to find the balance between coding and school work, but being in Grade 10 isn't too much pressure so it should be fine.

See you next time.