Manuel Thanh Schmid
Project team "Model City Council"
""Die Demokratie steht und fällt mit dem Engagement ihrer Bürgerinnen und Bürger", sagte Norbert Lammert in seiner Abschiedsrede als damaliger Bundestagspräsident. Nicht nur selbst die demokratischen Partizipationsmöglichkeiten zu ergreifen, sondern das Engagement und Interesse anderer, gerade junger Menschen in und für unsere Demokratie zu wecken und zu fördern, ist mir ein Herzensanliegen."
Born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Manuel T. Schmid grew up in Hemmingen near Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg from the age of one and is about to graduate from the Hans Grueninger High School in Markgröningen in 2022.
As someone with Asian roots, his Vietnamese origins have made him aware that even today democracy is by no means a matter of course worldwide.
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He first came into contact with political participation at school. Starting as a class representative, he was able to gain his first personal experience with democratic elections, the competition for the best ideas, joint teamwork and event organization, and what it means not only to get involved himself, but also to encourage others to do so.
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In addition, as a member of the Christian Democratic, Young People's and Students' Union, he was able to gain further organizational as well as political experience of various kinds in the office of assessor, secretary and press officer as well as chairman.
In addition to his political commitment, he is also passionate about working and helping to shape the local church community.
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In addition, he was nominated by his school to participate in the creative weeks "Discoverers and Inventors" of the Cultural Academy of the Foundation Kinderland Baden-Württemberg in 2016/17 at the Förderverein Science und Technologie e. V. and a subsequent one-week project class in 2017 in cooperation with the State Theaters Stuttgart.
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With this experience and borne by the will not only to talk about democracy, but also to make it tangible for others, he is involved in the Youth Parliament initiative