Fund Romanian High School Olympians
Computer Science Olympians from Romania lack funds to challenge their American peers in #ACSL International Competition
High schools in Romania are known to graduate many computer science prodigies. That’s arguably the reason why people in tech often joke that the second most spoken language at Microsoft is Romanian.
A lesser known fact is that only a small fraction of these talented students get a chance to realize their full potential--and that’s due to financial hardship. Some students are lucky to have the opportunity to participate in international competitions where their stellar performance doesn’t go unnoticed. For these lucky students, attending a global competition is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
But many are not so lucky. For 14 Romanian high school students from Grigore Moisil Informatics High School in Brașov this happy scenario is nothing but a dream. After taking home top prizes in local and regional pre-qualifying competitions (known as Computer Science Olympics), these brilliant young programmers have been invited to compete in one of the most prestigious competitions in the world hosted by the American Computer Science League (ACSL) on May 28 in New Hampshire.
Unfortunately, none of them have the money needed to travel to the US—approximately $2,500 per person required for transportation and housing. Without financial support, they won't get their fair chance at competing alongside 200 elite teams featuring some of the finest high school programmers in the world. And that would be a shame.
Students from Grigore Moisil Computer Science High School have qualified to attend the prestigious ACSL competition every year for the past 15 years. Each time they won at least 5 gold medals. This year, they may be forced to drop out before the start of the competition if they are unsuccessful in raising the funds necessary by the beginning of May.
In a recent interview with DigiTV , these motivated students talk about their rigorous schedule. They spend about 3-6 hours daily after regular school hours to work on advanced assignments and topics to best prepare themselves for the competition.
As an alum of Grigore Moisil Computer Science High School, I started this fundraising campaign because I believe in these students' talent and great potential. I hope you will join me in supporting this GoFundMe campaign to raise part of the funds necessary to cover their trip.
Let's help this team of talented high school programmers travel where they deserve to be on May 28—competing against the finest computer science students in the world!
**All funds raised in this campaign will be used to cover expenses for the students' trip to the American Computer Science League (ACSL) annual competition on May 28, 2016 in Nashua, New Hampshire, US. In addition to donating to the cause, I pledge to cover all fees associated with this GoFundMe campaign so that each and every dollar you give will be spent to further their cause.
GoFundMe does not accept debit or credit cards issued in Romania. If you currently live in Romania and do not have access to an international debit card, but you want to support the students, please visit their website at www.viainfo.ro/donatii for details on making a donation via PayPal or a local Romanian bank.**
Thank you for your support!
--
More about these gifted students and their story at: http://bit.ly/1RMd8jD
Read more about Grigore Moisil Informatics High School, Brasov , whose graduates include Dumitru Prunariu, Romania’s first cosmonaut.
