USACO Camp 2024

5.23

Arrival

Flew from SFO to ATL with 10 other campers from Bay Area.

Plane from SFO

Flight was 5 hours, and then another 4 hour bus ride to Clemson. When we arrived, it was around 8 PM, and we got off the bus in the middle of a thunderstorm.

We then got our rooms, and it was time to sleep. My roommate was Botao Yuan.

5.24

Orientation / Lecture 1

We had a practice contest after orientation in the morning.

After lunch, the Terminal contest was introduced. Alex Chen and Ray Zhao were on my team.

Then we had a 3 hour lecture while the Holsteins had a fun contest.

After dinner we went to an escape room, where my main contribution was suggesting shooting a portrait on the wall with a fake gun, which was somehow intended. Our team failed to escape by a couple minutes.

We got back around 10 PM.

5.25

Lecture 2

Ultimate frisbee in the morning. Was a bit muddy in the field, but was very enjoyable overall.

Robert Muldrow Cooper Library

After lunch we had our second lecture while Holsteins took their first rated contest.

We had a contest strategy discussion after dinner, and open lab after that.

5.26

Contest 1

Problem creation in the morning, I created an easier problem with Cici Liu. Maybe it will be in USACO Bronze next year?

First contest for both Guernseys and Holsteins after lunch. Did very poorly, rank 23 / 24.

Ice cream after the contest, then contest review.

Enrichment lecture after dinner, followed by open lab.

5.27

Fun Day

A fun excursion to an arcade / bowling alley in the morning.

There was laser tag, and the arcade was also very fun. Unfortunate we did not get tickets / points from the arcade, cause I hit 2 jackpots on Crossy Road. Bowling also went pretty well for me.

Bipartite matching exercise in the afternoon, was pretty interesting.

After dinner, the Holsteins shared their favorite competitive programming tricks.

We would also be moving to a closer dining hall starting the next day.

New dining hall

5.28

Lecture 2

Enrichment lecture after breakfast.

Then there was a joke contest where campers submitted their best programming or cow related jokes.

After lunch we had our last lecture while Holsteins took their third contest.

In the night we had mini-golf, which was pretty exciting. Since it was in groups of four, I grouped up with the three other Lynbrook campers.

Mini golf course

5.29

Contest 2

Open lab time in the morning, last chance to finish up code for Terminal.

Another enrichment lecture after that.

Second contest after lunch, did slightly better, rank 20 / 24.

Contest review after.

We then got some free stuff from different companies.

Free stuff

After dinner we had an enrichment lecture, which was followed by a college / career discussion.

5.30

Contest 3

Contest in the morning right after breakfast. Did slightly better again? Rank 16 / 24.

After lunch Terminal was concluded. Alex carried our team to first place. Thanks, Alex!

Terminal prize

Enrichment lecture by Benjamin Qi, then contest review.

We then had dinner at a fancy restaurant, where we also had our award ceremony.

Congrats to the IOI team: Agastya Goel, Brian Xue, Rain Jiang, Rohin Garg, and good luck!

5.31

Six Flags

Long bus ride to six flags after checking out in the morning.

Six flags was pretty fun, but not a big fan of amusement parks.

Six Flags

Dinner was at a pizza place, then we went to a hotel near the airport.

6.1

Departure

My flight was in the afternoon, so I left earlier than most of the other Bay Area campers.

Back at SFO

Thanks to everyone at camp for making it a great experience, and I hope to see you guys again in the future!