Zoraida de Souza
THE GIRL BEHIND THE PEN
About Me
I’m Zoraida de Souza. I’m 15, and I love writing, research, cuisine, travel, reading, discovering new cultures, and asking questions about how people think and feel.
I’m a published poet and student researcher, but I’m still figuring out all the things I might become.
When I was eight, I lost my grandfather in a tragic accident. I felt grief and anxiety that I didn’t always know how to explain. Poetry gave me somewhere to put those feelings. Over time, writing became a way to understand myself and connect with other people. In 2024, I published Whispers of Innocence, a collection of poems about love, friendship, grief, anxiety, and growing up. I hoped someone reading it might recognize a feeling of their own and feel less alone.
STUDENT RESEARCH
Curious about the science of emotion.
I’m just as curious about emotions from a scientific perspective. I’ve studied how brain signals relate to emotion through an independent EEG project, explored questions about neurofeedback, borderline personality disorder, and mental health stigma, and learned with researchers. I had the pleasure of doing weekly lab work at the University of Miami’s IBSI Lab and shadowing my doctor. I can imagine becoming a neurosurgeon or psychologist one day. For now, I’m enjoying the chance to learn and ask better questions.
Learning, researching, and asking questions
Beds for Jamaica
MY ROOTS AND COMMUNITY
How can I help?
My family is from Jamaica, and that connection is a big part of who I am. After Hurricane Melissa, I learned that families had lost their beds and were sleeping on bare floors. I asked my parents, ‘How can I help?’ With donors, students, and partners in Jamaica, that question grew into Beds for Jamaica. We raised J$2 million to help provide mattresses and sent handwritten letters so families would know they had not been forgotten.
T.H.R.I.V.E. — FOR TEENS, BY TEENS
Helping young people find their tools.
I asked a similar question about teens around me. So many of us face stress, pressure, loneliness, and difficult emotions, but we aren’t always taught what to do with them. I founded T.H.R.I.V.E. to give young people practical tools for a healthy mind, with guidance from professionals. Its first summit led to workshops, new connections, and letters that teens wrote for residents of an ACTS retirement community. Visiting the residents, reading to them, and delivering those letters reminded me how much it matters to give someone your time.
Showing up for people
STILL LEARNING AND GROWING
Whatever comes next.
I’ve also created UNWRITTEN: The Skills Every Teen Needs to help teens keep practicing what they learn. I’m proud of that work and grateful to everyone building it with me. Outside of my projects, I’m still a student who loves to write, try new things, and spend time with people. I hope that whatever I do next, I keep noticing when someone needs support—and help them feel that they belong.
Community and connection