Portfolio & Record — Deerfield Academy, Class of 2028
Human-centered
by design.
Creating stories, technology, and experiences that help people feel seen, understood, and connected.
Portfolio & Record — Deerfield Academy, Class of 2028
Creating stories, technology, and experiences that help people feel seen, understood, and connected.
Introduction
Some people are drawn to answers. Olivia Minn is drawn to questions.
As a writer, filmmaker, and designer, she explores the spaces where people struggle to understand themselves and one another. Her work returns to recurring images—forests, water, memory, silence, and the fragile boundaries between connection and isolation—not as symbols to decode, but as places to think. Whether through memoir, poetry, film, or digital experiences, she is interested in stories that ask readers and viewers to look a little more closely.
A student at Deerfield Academy, Olivia has been recognized with a Gold Key in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and honors for her filmmaking, while also developing technology that supports teen mental health. Though these pursuits appear distinct, they are united by a common thread: a belief that creativity and technology are most meaningful when they deepen our understanding of the human experience.
This portfolio is a collection of that exploration. It reflects a curiosity about people, a fascination with the stories we tell ourselves, and a growing conviction that the most enduring work—whether written, filmed, or built—is measured not only by innovation, but by empathy.
Confessions — a memoir
Written as a personal memoir, Confessions earned a Gold Key — the top regional distinction awarded by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the country's premier recognition program for teen writers and artists.
"If I could bottle up the quintessence of life, I would have a plastic cup of matcha. They say in Japan, the people who drink it die at one-hundred nineteen. But it's more than an elixir of life. I'd swear I wasn't an addict, but my eyes are bloodshot, saturated with emerald green, not red. Matcha runs in my veins. It tastes like the vegetables I despised eating as a child. It reminds me of the grass I tore from the earth with my tiny toddler hands. Matcha resembles the moss that climbs up the pebbles and pine tree roots in the forest. It's a drug, but I'm less captivated by its taste. I'm utterly intoxicated by the side-effects."
"In June, in the midst of bustling crowds, canary yellow taxis, and the towering skyscrapers of New York City, a small café sits tucked into the corner of 1158 Broadway Street. Cha Cha Matcha is painted on the glass windows, in big, green letters. Square tiles and pink menus decorate the walls like art. My friend, Natalie, and I sit at a circular, marble table, cradling matching matcha iced chais. Between sips, she tells me her parents had an arranged marriage, then divorced eleven years later. She admits to wishing she could stay with her brother in his apartment in San Francisco. She says her dad hits her.\"
Trapped — short film
Trapped is a short film exploring teenage loneliness, screen addiction, and emotional isolation in the digital age.
Varsity Women's Rowing
A member of Deerfield Academy's Varsity Women's Rowing program, rowing in the Varsity 8+ and 4V.
Varsity 8+ at race pace — stroke seat, closest to the coxswain.
Two projects applying technology to teen mental health — a recurring thread across all four disciplines.
A mobile mental-wellness app that lets teenagers record encouraging messages to themselves, sorted by mood, to play back for support in a future hard moment — built to encourage self-reflection and emotional well-being.
A privacy-first AI system for detecting emotional pattern changes in teens — a proposal for identifying early signs of mental health concerns through sentiment analysis.