Greetings to prospective participants in Google Code-in at OpenMRS! Just like we do in our main “introduce yourself” topic here on OpenMRS Talk, we’d love to hear from you to learn:
We look forward to getting to know you and all the other participants over the next few months!
My name is Robby O’Connor…I’ve been a long time lurker since my two stints of GSoC and hope to become more active…I love open source culture and everything about the OpenMRS community makes me happy…they’re amazing…I live in New Windsor, New York (approximately 60mis north of Manhattan, near West Point).
I will be mentoring GCI…I have mentored Google Code-In prior with Sahana every year and have chosen to work with OpenMRS this stint. I hope to make it successful.
Note however: I will not be available until Christmas time…I am in my final semester of university, which I hope to earn by BA in Computer Science. I will probably approve claim requests on tasks but will not available to answer questions at length until that time.
Hi, I’m Chaitya Shah. I’m a 17 year old developer from New Jersey. I took interest in OpenMRS because the language used is Java (the language I am most skilled in). Through the Computer Science Academy that I am in, I have become proficient in Java, Python, and C++, mainly focusing on data structures in Java. We dabble in several other languages in the academy, giving me some basic knowledge of languages like HTML, CSS and VisualBasic.NET. I participated in Google Code-in with Sahana Software Foundation last year, and came close to winning… Hopefully I’ll go further this year! Some interests… I am really interested in artificial intelligence and robotics and hope to further my knowledge in those areas in college next year.
Hey @cshah – It will be great to work with you again this year! You’ll probably remember me from last year’s GCI with Sahana.
I’ll be available starting after 25 Dec or so (once exams are done for me and all school stuff is completed) – but just wanted to welcome you aboard 
Hi Everyone , I’m Samsruti Dash from India .Since Google Code In is introducing different organisations different year , so i thought to contribute to OpenMRS this time . I am a student of KV Balasore. But i read JAVA books , Python Books and tried to make myself a good developer . I like to develop themes and design for a website . I am really interested in Back-end and Front-End , specially frontend. I participated in Google Code-in with Sahana Software Foundation last year, and became a finalists . Thats all , But I really liked this organisation. 
Hey @r0bby, of course I remember you! You were a great help last year, and I hope we’ll get time to work together again. Good luck on your exams! Get that BA!!!
Hi Everyone! My name is Malena Vasquez and I’m a 15y/o developer (or whatever?) from Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is my first year doing GCI so Im not very familiar with how things work during the contest but I hope to gain lots of experience from it. I love developing apps and video games and I am working towards perfectioning my Java skills. I chose open MRS because I really feel interested by what the org. does worldwide. I just look forward to making the most out of this experience. 
Welcome @cshah @samsrutidash @malevasquez1 and all GCI students to our community. I hope you find the tasks worthwhile and have a good time working on OpenMRS. Our goal through GCI is that young students become long-term contributors to open-source and we’ll try to ensure that working with us will enable you to find your true calling!!
Welcome everyone! I’m Elliott. I’m a volunteer developer and mentor at OpenMRS who focuses on building tools to enhance our online community. I’m currently a full-time student getting a BS in Computer Science from Purdue University. I live in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA (roughly in-between Chicago and Indianapolis).
New students, I’ve been in your shoes before! 
I was 15 when I started doing work for OpenMRS, and learned most of what I know about coding and development through my contributions to OpenMRS. (As of this writing I’m 19.) I want to do my part to make this community welcoming to younger students like I was.
I am currently project lead for the OpenMRS Modules and OpenMRS ID projects. If you’re interested in JavaScript, Node.js, HTML5/CSS3, and other interesting modern web technologies you should totally check them out.
Hi everyone, and welcome !
I’m @surangak, a Sri Lankan graduate student studying for my PhD in Health Informatics at Indiana University - Purdue University (IUPUI), and working alongside the OpenMRS team based here in Indy.
I’ve previously mentored for the GSOC program, but this is my first ever experience with the GCI program.
FYI: I’m also probably the only Sri Lankan to hate the game of cricket 
Looking forward to a productive GCI program over the next few months !
Hello everyone! My name is Evgeny Shulgin, and I’m a 15 year old developer from Russia. This is my second participation in the Google Code-in. I know Java, makes games for Android at Google Play Market (on libgdx and Unity3D). Also I know C# and C++. I think I learned more interesting for yourself! I look forward to beginning
Hey, I’m Liza! I’m a 14 year old developer from the UK and it’s my first time participating in GCI (mainly because I forgot the start date for GCI 2013, but oh well). I took an interest in OpenMRS because the organisation does really awesome work and I’m hoping to get real-life coding experience, as well as improving my Java skills. Thanks and I look forward to getting to know you all!
Hello everyone,
I’m @maurya , I’m from India and I have collaborated with OpenMRS through GSOC and participated in 2012 and 2013 and since then I’ve been with them. I am presently doing my masters in Health Informatics in IUPUI, Indianapolis. I will be a mentor this year for GCI.
I participated in GSOC hoping to do a project and get some experience in a real world programming environment, but after I started working with OpenMRS, it changed my life including my decision to pursue Health Informatics instead of Computer Science. It has been a wonderful experience for me and I’m sure your experience would be the same.
Looking forward to working with you guys
Hello everyone! My name is Tasya Aditya, I’m 17 and I’m a high school student in Indonesia. This is my first year in GCI and I’m interested in participating because I’ve always wanted to make an impact to the world and I realize that open-source organization is a good place to start (Oh, and this is my first year because I didn’t know about GCI until this year 
). I hope to be learning much from this experience as I’m currently just ‘scratching the surface’ of my journey in the computing world
So thankful to everyone who has so-far introduced him/her self. Just got challenged reading that almost everyone of these young stars has some programming backgroud
Am KAWEESI JOSEPH, a Ugandan pursing my undergraduate in Software Engineering & App Dev’t at Bugema University, I have been volunteering within openmrs for quite some time and also participated in GSoC this year with this wonderful organization. This has given me lots of knowledge and experience plus opportunities and i hope being a GSI mentor will be another remarkable experience for me.
Hi! I am Ethan Tien, a 16 year old developer from New Jersey. I enjoy competitions and developing, so I felt that Google Code-in would be a wonderful event to participate in. I like to play around with a few different languages, including Python and Java. I saw that OpenMRS uses Java, the language that I am most confident in, and decided it was the place to be. I was also very intrigued by what the organization does. I’ve never participated in Google Code-in before, so I hope to gain a lot of experience through doing this. Some interests of mine include music, computers, and gaming.
Also, Ethan and I go to the school that past GCI winners Liezl Puzon (GCI 2012) and Nolan Lum (GCI 2010) attended… so our school has a history of competing in this competition!
Hi everyone! I’m Michael Downey, and I’m the global community manager for OpenMRS. While I’m not a “hands on” mentor this year, I am responsible for participation all of our outreach programs including GCI and Google Summer of Code (GSoC).
I encourage all of you to get to know other participants and other community members, and use the Google Code-in category here on OpenMRS Talk to ask questions of mentors if you feel confused or stuck.
If you feel like you’re not getting the answers you need in a reasonable amount of time (a day or two - even our mentors have to sleep some times!) feel free to contact me or my team by email at community■■■■■■■■■■■■. We’re here to help everyone in the OpenMRS Community be successful participants in our open source project, and that includes you.
Thanks for being a part of our first year in GCI, and have fun!