Following his military service in the NVA, Schmidt began studying Computer Science at the Humboldt University in Berlin, shortly after the Fall of the Wall. Soon after, he changed his subjects at the university to Romance Languages and German Studies, at the Humboldt University, and also in Bukarest. In the context of these studies, he spent time abroad in Brest, Valencia, Rome, New York City, and Moscow. Especially his stays in Brittany, Spain, and the U.S. inspired parts of Schmidt's first novel "Müller haut uns raus" (engl. "Müller bails us out"; 2002). After completing his studies, he held a job at the university and worked as a translator into German. It was during this time that he started writing creatively.