Help Janka Deli Attend Stanford Law School!

My name is Janka Deli. I come from Piliscsaba, a small town in Hungary, in Central Eastern Europe. I was admitted to the Stanford Program in International Legal Studies. Attending this program would be a dream come true to me, and would bring me an opportunity to transfer much needed quality knowledge in empirical legal research and economic analysis of law to Hungary.   

Stanford has offered me a need-based scholarship of $25,000 (~42% of tuition) for the 2018/19 academic year and I received the $18,000 International Fellowship of the American Association of University Women and major financial support from the Rosztoczy Foundation for 2019. However, the tuition for this program is $60,072, meaning that I am still $3,945 short of being able to attend Stanford Law School in the fall. Since I started working at the end of August 2017, I have been saving to attend this program. As much as it is hard to ask for financial help, my savings - partly spent on the application process and on the deposit - do not enable me to afford paying for tuition and for all other costs associated with the program adding up to the total $96,429 cost of attendance which includes rent, food, books and supplies, student services fee, health services fee, local transportation, and medical insurance.   

As far back as I can remember I have been an active and forward-thinking member of the communities to which I belonged. I have always been ready to lead people in a direction of positive change and progress. Today I am more certain than ever about my aim, to become a decision maker and solve problems not only in my immediate surroundings, but also on a bigger scale. I imagine myself as a future policy maker. Equipped with an expertise in law & economics I would like to support people, organizations and countries reaching better solutions, and positively influence life through efficient and just law.   

It was 5 years ago when I found my field of passion: economic analysis of law. Since then I have been seeking opportunities to gain knowledge in this field, and to acquire a solid foundation in economics while pursuing a law degree. As there is no opportunity in Hungarian legal and economic education to specialize in law & economics, I decided to apply for master programs in law in the United States, since the economic analysis of law originated in Chicago and has been constantly and quickly developing across the US. I targeted law schools enabling and promoting specialization in law & economics with renowned faculty in this field.   

After graduating from law school in Budapest, I was offered the opportunity to start working at DLA Piper Hungary, a global law firm, as well as to enroll to the Ph.D. program of my law school, to do research with a law & economics approach on the connection between foreign direct investment and the rule of law. Working as a junior associate in the past 8 months strengthened me in my plans to choose academy and policy making consulting as career paths. Attending Stanford would enable me to study economic analysis of law, empirical research design, quantitative research methods and advanced statistics and econometrics, all of which are essential for my doctoral research, and neither of which are offered as part of any Ph.D. programs in law in Hungary.   

I have already been invited to participate in bringing the first Hungarian book on behavioral economics and on the behavioral economic analysis of law to life. Upon completion of the Stanford Program in International Legal Studies, I would be able to transmit empirical legal research methods and the latest results of law & economics to the Central Eastern European region. 

Volunteering has been an essential part of my life since 2010, when I got involved with a camp for children in need coming from the Carpathian basin. I have always been feeling privileged for having a loving and caring family supporting me, and felt that I should pass on something to those who have been deprived of it. Each summer between 2010 and 2014 I instructed and participated in a team of volunteers taking care of disadvantaged children. I participated in organizing charity balls, as well as supported the work of an NGO advising disadvantaged families on human and civil rights matters. At law school, I was one of the founders of the Caritas team which organized several charity campaigns for disadvantaged families. I took care of children of families in need at summer camps, educational and religious events organized by Missionaries of Charity, and occasionally tutored them at weekly classes.   

During my year at Stanford, I plan to continue volunteering. I would like to start a student community to organize weekend childcare and tutoring, so that disadvantaged, undereducated (single) parents would get the opportunity to study while their kids are taken care of, and thus get a perspective for themselves, their family and their children.   

I need your help to take this incredible opportunity and attend the Stanford Program in International Legal Studies. I am hoping to reach the goal of this fundraising by the end of July. If you cannot make a donation this time, please spread the word and share my story!   I very much appreciate your support! Thank you for helping me and for being part of my journey.   

I would love to send you a thank you card and give you regular updates on my experience at Stanford. Please send me your email address to let me know that I can include you in these emails.