Dear Mr James Dailey and the Apache Fineract Dev Team, I hope you’re doing well.
My name is Abdulqayyum Ajibike, and I’ve been going through the draft GSoC project ideas and the wiki pages carefully. I wanted to reach out early to express my interest and also get a bit of direction before the proposal phase officially kicks off. The three projects that stood out to me are: 1. Loan Origination POC 2. Front End Application MVP (POC) 3. New Backend for Front End Component (Self-Service API) POC I’ll be honest about where I stand. The *Loan Origination POC* genuinely interests me the most from a strategic and long-term perspective. It’s clearly more than just an implementation task — it touches business logic, modeling, workflows, and architecture. If I already had deeper, hands-on experience with full loan systems and risk modeling, I would naturally lean toward this one without hesitation. That said, I’m very willing to learn and put in the work if prior in-depth loan system experience is not a strict requirement. I’m comfortable researching domains thoroughly, breaking down models, and turning requirements into structured technical flows. If the expectation is that the selected student can grow into the domain during the project (rather than already being a domain expert), then I would absolutely like to pursue this. On the other hand, the *New Backend for Front End Component (Self-Service API) POC* aligns very directly with my current strengths. I’ve worked extensively on backend services, API design, authentication flows, and system boundaries. Designing a clean BFF layer that securely integrates with Fineract, with strong testing and documentation, is something I can confidently execute within the 350-hour scope. The *Front End Application MVP* is also a strong option for me. I have in-depth experience with modern JavaScript frameworks and building structured, scalable frontends that consume APIs properly. So I’m comfortable delivering a polished, well-tested reference application if that’s where the need is. At this point, I’d appreciate your advice on two things: - For the Loan Origination POC, how much prior domain depth is realistically expected before applying? - Would you recommend that I narrow down early to one focus area, or continue engaging across discussions until the direction becomes clearer? I’m serious about contributing meaningfully and not just submitting a proposal for the sake of it. I want to position myself where I can add the most value to the project and the community. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your guidance. Kind regards, Abdulqayyum Ajibike.
