WASHINGTON — She’s not voting age and she wasn’t elected, but a 15-year-old high school student was named to the Montgomery County Council for a day.
Angela Wu, a sophomore at Wootton High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, won an essay contest and the opportunity to be named an honorary council member for a day.
“I’m really interested in government and politics and these things, and this really helped to broaden my scope and just provide me an opportunity to see what it’s like,” Wu said.
Council member Craig Rice, who came up with the council challenge contest, said Wu followed along with the council’s actions, even as they got “deep in the weeds” on topics such as”emerging models in government technology procurement.”
Rice said of Wu’s performance as an honorary council member, “She was following right along, taking notes, and it’s my hope that more people follow in the footsteps of Angela — becoming more engaged and involved.”
Wu said what surprised her the most was how civil council members and those testifying could be, even when they disagreed with each other. “Even though there was disagreement, people were still able to have jokes in between and not have all-out yelling,” she said.
Wu took a government course as a freshman at Wootton High School, and said that the challenge in the current presidential election has been sorting through the spin to find the facts. Still, she’s not at all turned off by politics, “I’m really excited to see the outcome!” she said.
See what Angela wrote to win the contest:
Final Winner’s Essay by Angela Wu 10-6-16 by wtopweb on Scribd
