March 30, 2017 Interview with ltaravilse

As part of Algorithm Week, we are bringing you an interview with our Community Advisory Board (CAB) member, ltaravilse. We are lucky to have a such a dedicated member on our CAB this year and look forward to the support and input he provides.
TC: What is your day job?
ltaravilse: I’m head of TA’s on an Algorithms course at my university (Universidad de Buenos Aires).
TC: What is your Topcoder story?
ltaravilse: I started competing back in 2008, when I first heard of programming competitions. Back then, many people at my university participated in programming contests and all of them were part of the Topcoder community.
TC: Why did you decide to get involved with the CAB?
ltaravilse: I’ve taken part in the Topcoder community for almost a decade, so I felt I could do something to give back to the community after what it gave to me.
TC: What is one thing you’d like to accomplish through CAB for 2017?
ltaravilse: Getting more people to participate in Topcoder like it was a few years ago. The number of contestants in the Algorithm and Marathon Match tracks has declined a lot and I feel it can improve if Topcoder makes the right decisions about it.
TC: What is your favorite thing about Topcoder?
ltaravilse: Definitely the community. I learn a lot from them all the time.
TC: What is one tip you can share with the community about getting started at Topcoder?
ltaravilse: Don’t be afraid of not getting good results at the beginning. I had a rating under 900 after one of my first SRMs and with practice and competing a lot in Topcoder I reached a 2200+ rating after a few years. It’s all a matter of getting involved and practicing.
TC: What is your favorite Topcoder moment?
ltaravilse: One of my favorite moments in my whole life (not just in Topcoder) was when I got a red rating back in 2013. Unfortunately it lasted only one contest but it made me very happy when it happened.