I don't think you can really be. At my school years ago, i met this 18 or 19 yo girl who recoded most of 'ls' in 3 days (without printf or any va_arg as this was forbidden), then got bored and added all the options even some obscure ones and improved the efficiency using branchless tricks, all while teaching people with less than 2 month of experience in programming binary masks and bit shifting (successfully). She wasn't the best in my year, in this new school without reputation.
That's why I decided very early in my career than being the best was pretty much impossible and that i would focus on being a good teammate, knowledgeable on most subjects with a deep focus on one (7 years later i still haven't really chosen btw), and happy to share this knowledge. Write good code, follow the practice of your team even if it means letting go this fantastic python trick (or change them if you think they're inappropriate), document everything and ask for advice. And give advice
That's why I decided very early in my career than being the best was pretty much impossible and that i would focus on being a good teammate, knowledgeable on most subjects with a deep focus on one (7 years later i still haven't really chosen btw), and happy to share this knowledge. Write good code, follow the practice of your team even if it means letting go this fantastic python trick (or change them if you think they're inappropriate), document everything and ask for advice. And give advice