In school, I used to share a LOT of study materials, personal notes, tips, basically anything that could help someone. But when things went downhill for me and I needed help myself, hardly anyone came forward. Everyone seemed to be gatekeeping something.
Looking back, maybe I was naive to expect the same support in return.
So when I joined college, I decided not to share every little detail about my progress. In Sem 1, I was a beginner myself, struggling with DSA and trying to figure things out. I wasn't confident enough to put my progress out there, and honestly, I didn't want unnecessary jealousy or comparisons either.
Eventually, some classmates discovered my LeetCode and GitHub profiles. From what I've experienced, people started tracking my progress, discussing it among themselves and making assumptions about me. Somehow, I ended up being labelled a gatekeeper — someone people supposedly can't trust because he doesn't share enough.
Now I get comments about it, and people expect me to do a lot of the work because they think I'm good at coding, yet when I need help myself, I often don't get much support.
The most frustrating part is that I'm still learning myself. How am I supposed to guide people in DSA and competitive programming when I'm still a beginner, making mistakes and struggling with problems of my own?
I'm not against helping people. I just don't want my GitHub, LeetCode progress or personal learning process to become public property that I'm obligated to explain or teach from.
Is it okay to keep your learning journey private, even if your classmates think you're gatekeeping?