An Hour Before the Battle
The venue slowly came to life as students from different schools arrived. The CICTE Multimedia Club team had the chance to chat with the C program representatives. The interviewswere as followed:
Interviewer: Hi! Can you tell us your name, year level, course and programming language you’re competing?
MARC (C): I’m Marc Xavier Gica. 2nd year and my course is BSIT.
Q1: Can you tell us what strategies do you use in preparation to stay focused and motivated?
MARC (C): Sir’s intervention in guiding us was the motivation we needed to focus and aim for competitive results.
SHAIRA (C): Hi, I am Shaira Marie Noval Giva. 2nd year BSIT. C language. Bro, I have no strategies. In preparation, I don’t know. Training? Yeah, I trained for like 1 week, yes, ‘cause it was unexpected that I was chosen by Sir Cantero. So, I prepared for like a week.
JABES (C): I’m Jabes Bernal. 2nd year IT. Actually, my preparation about the competition and strategies, is pretty quite common I only took some questions in letcode and answer it for almost a week2 questions a day and during the competition if the question after three seconds and still didn’t understand I will skip and find another question that is easy to answer.
CHARLES (C): Hi, I am Charles Ken Perez. For me, it’s to make a goal.
Q2: In a scale of 1-10, how excited are you to participate in EVCO?
MARC (C): Maybe 7 because this is the first time that Western was able to hold this kind of event. So, I’m really excited that EVCO is held here.
SHAIRA (C): -1. Joke. Around 8.5. Because I am not ready, and I am not excited. But I’m also excited for this to end already.
JABES (C): Maybe in a scale of 1 to 10 I will say seven.
CHARLES (C): Uhm for me it’s 7/10. I’m looking forward to EVCO and am excited to be part of it, especially for the chance to meet new people and experience something different. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m interested to see what new ideas and challenges it will bring.
The CICTE Multimedia Club gained insights into their preparation strategies, excitement levels, and expectations for the upcoming EVCO event.
Post-Competition
The CICTE Multimedia Club team caught up with the JAVA and C participants to hear about their experiences.
Q1: How do you effectively communicate and collaborate with your teammates during a contest?
NIÑA (JAVA): Hi, I am Niña Jane Boholst. So, during the contest it is allowed to talk with my teammates. Once we finished answering all the questions, we shared our thoughts with each other. Like, let’s say, if he knew the answer to a question that I didn’t, we could combine our knowledge and still get the correct answer. I still managed to get a good score.
JAVIER (JAVA): Hi, I’m Javier Rex Melo. It’s easy since we’re seatmates, so we can just ask each other questions, right? But I won’t interrupt them if they’re busy working. I’ll wait until they’re done. That’s it.
JABES (C): I think during that time we encountered a lot of difficulties but still we survived and that time we are allowed to talk with our teammate so I can say that it is very easy to communicate and share thoughts and common understanding of the problem.
CHARLES (C): We don’t communicate much because everyone is busy working on solutions, but once someone has solved a problem, we address the question together.
Q2: How do you decide which problems to tackle first in a contest?
NIÑA (JAVA): To see what’s easier to solve, you have to look all of them and then you have to also like see, “oh this one is much easier” but which one has the longest code, and which one is the shortest. So, we prioritized the shortest ones first. That’s why we were able to use our time more effectively during the contest.
JAVIER (JAVA): I didn’t focus on the string because I’m not good at that. So, I focused on the numbers, the duplicates, and the math problems.
JABES (C): For me, I only choose first the problem that using or asking for integers input from userbecause it is easy to understand, and you can calculate immediately rather than the string or a character of array it is very long typing of the program, so I need to think of a way to make it faster.
CHARLES (C): My main goal in EVCO event is the numbers which is easy to answer and manipulate the solution.
Q3: How do you handle the pressure and stress of competing in EVCO?
NIÑA (JAVA): To avoid feeling pressured, I just talked to them. During the contest, we laughed a lot, so we felt less pressure.
JAVIER (JAVA): I was just trying to figure it out, so I looked for hints from the others.
JABES (C): I think pressure and stress is normal for people because for me people that don’t struggle or experiencing pressure or staying in their comfort zone will not succeed because if we think about it scientist conduct experiments that in the future all those failure will be noted as a guidance for their success so it is a very good positive thinking to think that all happening to yourself is a blessing and learning. I’m jabesarigatoguzamasu謝謝你HAHAHA
CHARLES (C): For me really need to be competitive because there’s a lot of pressure since the event is being held at our school, and we might not make it in.
Q4: In one word, describe your overall experience in EVCO.
NIÑA (JAVA): It was fun. That’s all I can say. Even though it was difficult, I enjoyed it, and I also learned something from the contest. I learned about the content and how to communicate effectively with my teammates.
JAVIER (JAVA): Amazing.
JABES (C): Great.
CHARLES (C): Scary.
Emerged as Winners
WLC JAVA emerged as champions in EVCO 2024. The CICTE Multimedia Club team had the opportunity to chat and discuss their initial reactions.
Q1: How did your team prepare for the Coding Olympics, especially in terms of Java coding practice?
CHARMAIN: Hi, I’m Charmain Rose Toñares. Our team prepared for the Coding Olympics by actively answering practice problems provided by our coach. We also discussed the practice problems we encountered with our team and discussed different solutions or approaches to improve our problem-solving skills in Java.
JEJOMAR: Hi, I’m Jejomar Parilla. Our team prepared for the Coding Olympics by solving multiple problems created by Mr. Joscoro Cantero, which provided valuable learning experiences. On the final day before the competition, we practiced by solving the same number of problems as the EVCO in a two-hour timeframe, and we saw significant improvement in our performance.
Q2: What advice would you give to aspiring programmers who want to participate in future coding competitions?
CHARMAIN: The advice I could give to aspiring programmers is that they should focus on gaining experience and learning while enjoying the competition. They should keep in mind that each challenge is an opportunity to grow and build their skills. Always give your best effort, work with your team, and always remember that teamwork and determination are key to success in this coding competition.
JEJOMAR: My advice to future coding competitors is to be patient and consistent. Growth doesn’t happen overnight—commitment and steady practice are key to improvement.
Q3: Can you share a specific strategy or approach that helped your team secure the win?
CHARMAIN: Consistent practice to improve our skills and learn different algorithms or approaches made it more manageable to solve complex coding problems and also working with our team.
JEJOMAR: Effective communication was key for our team’s success. Each member focused on problems they were most skilled at, making the process efficient. Having a team where everyone excels in their areas was a huge advantage.
Q4: What inspired your team to choose Java for the competition?
CHARMAIN: Our team chose Java for the competition because we’re most familiar with it. During our first and second years, we focused more on learning Java which gave us a strong foundation and confidence in using it for the coding competition.
JEJOMAR: We chose Java because of its extensive library support and the ease it provides in handling data structures. Java’s resources allowed us to focus on core logic without getting bogged down by minor issues, giving us an edge in solving complex problems efficiently.
Q5: What’s it like being the winning champion of the Eastern Visayas Coding Olympics 2024?
CHARMAIN: Winning the EVCO 2024 was unexpected for us but also an incredible experience. We are really happy that all the hard work paid off and proud to bring this achievement to WLC and also to our department. This achievement means a lot to us as a student, and we are really grateful to our coach and everyone in the CICTE department for believing in our skills and giving us this opportunity.
JEJOMAR: It feels incredible and overwhelming to be recognized as the top team among other schools in the Eastern Visayas Coding Olympics 2024. This achievement reflects our hard work, dedication, and teamwork, and we’re honored to represent our school with pride. It’s also been an amazing experience to meet the top coders from each school across Eastern Visayas, competing alongside some of the most outstanding programmers in the region.
Q6: In one word, describe your overall experience in EVCO
CHARMAIN: Overwhelming
JEJOMAR: Unforgettable
The JAVA team’s victory is a testament to their hard work and skill. It is also a statement of how an effective teamwork can dominate and emerged the team in victory. Their win will serve as an inspiration to programmers thatwill lead them to embrace challenges and to expect growth through diligent practice.
