How did one small decision change your life?

In 2005 I had a boyfriend who was a fan of programming competitions. Once I decided to try and see what is this thing which makes him wake up at 3:30 a.m. or rush home from mid-date in the evening to participate in a competition. I joined TopCoder.

The effects were not immediate but eventually my whole life took a different path:

• I met a lot of exceptionally smart people, my husband and most of my friends among them.
• I travelled to Las Vegas, Florida and Budapest for 4 different onsite tournaments.
• I got several job interviews with companies I'd never thought about applying to otherwise, and in the end moved from Ukraine to USA to work for one of them.
• Not to mention the resulting personality changes.

Read other answers by

Mariya Mykhailova on Quora:

• Do you know any red/yellow coders who got rejected in Google/Facebook interviews?
• Who have you been connected with via social media that you wouldn't have otherwise? How has it impacted you?
• How did you start your first days learning and practicing before competing in online programming judges and contests like UVa, Codeforces, TopCoder? (and eventually ICPC, if any?) Any tips on how to improve my skills as well?

Read more answers on Quora.

from Quora http://ift.tt/1rkoMw4