Overview
And so Google Code-in 2016 finally wraps up! After a long 7 weeks program, it has all come down to the final days. GCI-16 wraps up in about 48 hours and it has been a splendid moment and experience
When GCI started I was anxious (and nervous) to some extend, but since it was my second time participating (and the last time XD ), I had to find ways to turn my nervousness into creativity and fun. When I saw that OpenMRS was participating in gci-16, I was excited! I chose to participate with OpenMRS because the whole idea of writing code to save lives was really amazing and I wanted to be part of it! ❤
My Experience
Participating in GCI was super exciting (and really exhausting 😀 ) and at the end, I discovered that I gained a whole new level of experience in the Open Source world. Participating in GCI with OpenMRS made me realized I could look at the whole world from a new angle. It opened my mind to solving the most basic problems to thinking critically about issues, and communicating with everyone in the community!
My Work With OpenMRS
During this session for GCI, I completed some tasks, giving every single task my best shot at it. Also, whenever I had the chance (given my busy schedule) I tried as much as I could to help community members who raised questions on the communication channels. My first task was to earn OpenMRS Talk badges, and it was a really fun one! After the task, I took upon myself the challenge to earn more amazing badges! (Especially the /dev/{n} badges 😉 )
I created a few videos for OpenMRS on different topics which can be viewed on my YouTube Channel. Also, one task I did that I really enjoyed was transferring the OpenMRS Developer Manual to GitBook, which is now being used as an official documentation!
I made a few PRs on the OpenMRS source code (had to squash a lot of commit though), and a PR on the reference application to allow login using only the keyboard! That was the most tricky task I did 😀
The most part of my contributions to OpenMRS was being part of the very friendly community. Helping out people with issues everyday was really fun and educative. I got to know a lot more about the OpenMRS Platform just by helping others out. And getting to work with the awesome mentors and other students… It was just perfect
Being part of GCI can be super fun and awesome! But the most awesome part of it, is being part of the Open Source Community!!! #omrs
Ups & Downs Encountered in this “Adventure”
Well to every good story, there is always a dark side (mine wasn’t so dark though XD ). Participating in GCI had its ups and downs, and I sure did face some of the “downs” myself. The fourth week of GCI was almost a complete “nightmare”. My computer stopped charging! To some extent, I taught it was over for me, but I did not give up! I found a way to fix the issue I was facing and got back on track 🙂
But when it comes down to everything, GCI-16 was a great experience for me; participating with OpenMRS. And even though GCI is over, OpenMRS is still available. I plan on sticking around for a while… A really long while ⭐ 💡 😎
Collin Grimm 