BE PART OF THE ADVENTURE OF MY LIFE – IN OSAKA, JAPAN!
Hi, and welcome to my GoGetFunding page!
I am Péter Schmidt, a law student from Hungary. In December, I have received an academic scholarship at Osaka University, with which I can attend the School of Law of one of the most prestigious institutions of Japan for a semester. However, the applicability of the Hungarian scholarship (Campus Mundi), which I would have used for the living costs, got suspended in the meantime. Right now, I am trying to raise funds from several places – including crowdfunding - to make use of the opportunity I was presented.
If you are interested in the details, continue reading!
WHO ARE YOU?
My name is Péter Schmidt. I was raised in a financially modest family in Dunaszekcső, a small village in Southern Hungary.
Since 2015, I am a law student at ELTE, the most renowned university of Hungary, as well as the member of Bibó István College for Advanced Studies, a talent development institution. During my university years, I was elected as a student representative, was a member and leader of scientific student associations, spent half a year in Helsinki with the Erasmus+ Programme, organized a scientific symposium, taught law and civil studies for disadvantaged children, and won several moot courts in Hungary and abroad.
In the last few years, I have worked as an intern at the Hungarian Ministry of Justice and as a project manager of a successful Hungarian start-up; currently, I am a paralegal of an international law firm. I have chosen to be a lawyer to understand the basic needs and motivations of a society. I believe, that law can serve as a toolkit for growth, social justice, an individual freedom on both systematic and individual levels.
WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH OSAKA?
Through an interinstitutional application, I was selected by the School of Law of Osaka Univerity for the OUSSEP Special Auditor scholarship. The semester starts in April and ends in August, during which I will get to study Japanese Law, Comparative Law, Health Law, and Social Sciences in English, as well as Japanese Language.
Without a doubt, this scholarship is one of the greatest opportunities of my life. I will be able to receive knowledge, attitude, and professional network on one of the best universities of the world, which is unique and invaluable in Hungary. Besides this, a long-time dream of mine would be realized: I’m not the type of a guy with bucket lists, however, I have been very interested in the Japanese way of life since I was a child. I just have not considered that I will ever get to experience it.
WHY CROWDFUNDING?
The academic scholarship granted by Osaka University pays only for the education costs (and various other benefits, e.g. dormitory), the living costs must be paid by the applicants. The living costs are estimated to be 400 000 JPY for five months, and raised with the travel costs (roughly 100 000 JPY), I am going to need at least 500 000 JPY for the semester.
In case I receive the OUSSEP Scholarship, my initial plan was to apply for a Hungarian scholarship ‘Campus Mundi’ to cover the living costs of my Osaka trip. CM is traditionally the go-to scholarship for Hungarian students who would like to study abroad, but does not have the means to do so; it would have covered my living costs almost entirely. However, as an unexpected and unprecedented turn of events, the applications for CM were suspended for an indefinite time because of the lack of resources. Therefore, I was not able to apply for this grant.
In the last few months, after I was officially notified by the Osaka University about my successful application, I have tried everything that was in my power and realm of possibilities to get the sufficient funds. To my misfortune, there were not any other scholarships I could have applied for the purposes of my exchange studies, and my student contract explicitly forbids me to work in Japan. By receiving extraordinary support from my family, burning all my savings, and taking up student loan, I am now able to finance the bare minimum needed not to starve to death, to have a roof over my head, and to be able to travel in the city.
I was unsure for a long time about starting a fundraiser for my cause. I am not even close from being well off financially, however, there are people, who are in a lot more need of support. That said, I have also reached the ceiling of my financial possibilities, as far as I am concerned, I do not have any other means of receiving funds at this point. Given this, I can only ask you to make my crowdfunder your “secondary” choice after someone more deprived – but I am very happy to receive any donations.
HOW WOULD YOU USE MY SUPPORT?
Primarily: for building a security margin. Currently, I am at the end of my funds, and I am yet to have a security margin for my trip. Given that I will be literally on the other side of Earth, in an entirely foreign society and legal order, in midst of the COVID-17 outbreak, I would like to build a financial safety net of ~700 EUR-s for emergency situations.
Secondarily: for adventures. I would be perfectly content with eating instant noodles and doing university things for five months, but there will perhaps not be another opportunity to stay in Japan for such a long time. For example, it would be awesome to…
… climb to the top of Fuji;
… to travel to Kyoto, Kobe, and maybe Tokyo;
… take a swim in the Pacific Ocean;
… to check out the Himeji Castle.
I will probably not be able to accomplish everything that I want to, but having the funds just for a portion of them would be awesome. Therefore, I solemnly swear, that every ounce of support over my security margin would be spent on having the time of my life in Osaka and making very fond memories of this very special period of my university years.
YOU CONVINCED ME! HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOU?
If you want to support me financially, you can do so through the system of GoGetFunding by credit card or PayPal payments. Let’s have a bottle or two of Asahi, take me out on a tasty kitsune ramen dinner, or get me a museum ticket symbolically – every cent of support helps me tremendously.
If you have any advices or job offers, please contact me at
[email protected] .
You can’t support me financially, but still want to help? Share this fundraiser with your friends and communities!
THANK YOU FOR HELPING MY CAUSE!
