When Sophia deCordova, 20, was a little girl, her mom slipped sticky notes in her school lunches that bore messages like “You’re amazing” and “I love you”. Years later, after returning to Asheville High after quarantine, deCordova, an only child, fell back on this loving gesture, sticking kind notes in the hallways as a way to build up fellow students. “I would write them when I got bored in class,” deCordova says.
It was only natural, perhaps, that the Asheville native would continue this tradition at A-B Tech when she started her associate’s degree in 2022. The students had recently returned to campus after COVID-19 and spirits were low. “I know college is hard,” deCordova says. “I wanted to spread positivity. And I was kind of hoping I would meet some friends.”
DeCordova, who jokingly admits to being a bit “obsessed with office supplies” would write notes during a break between classes and discreetly stick them on hallway bulletin boards in the Elm and Sycamore buildings.
The soft-spoken writer’s style was distinct. She took her time choosing affirmations, looking them up online, and never repeating one twice. And she decorated the notes with hearts and stars and signed them with her initial “S.”
“My favorite affirmation is “You matter. You are loved,” She says.
To deCordova’s surprise, within a few weeks, others began writing notes in reply to hers, and soon there was a rainbow trailing the stairwell of the Elm building, which became the sticky note hub. Soon she began to recognize others’ handwriting. One person always wrote Bible verses in neat cursive. Another began to leave small funny cartoon drawings.
College Navigator Laura Haire, who worked in the Elm building at the time, was intrigued when she saw the collection begin to grow. “I noticed that the other students were writing back to the original note-maker,” she says. “I got great fulfillment making a trip to the stairwell, just to see what new notes had shown up that week.”
Then, suddenly one day according to deCordova, all of the stairwell sticky notes disappeared. It’s not clear what happened exactly. According to Haire, a window was left open and the notes fell onto the floor. For a while the walls stayed strangely quiet and empty. Then Haire decided to step in. Wanting to keep the dialogue going, she planted pens and Post-it notes in the stairwell and left a roll of tape so the Post-it notes wouldn’t blow off the walls.
“This was a way for our students to connect with each other anonymously and know that other students who were experiencing similar things, were encouraging them,” she says. “This was a beautiful thing to have happen on any campus, but for a nonresidential campus that was coming out of the pandemic, it was something special.”
Soon a lone sticky note appeared; others followed. The project lived on. Over the course of her two years on campus, deCordova estimates she’s personally written and posted about 100 sticky notes in the Elm and Sycamore buildings. During this time, she’s been noticed only by a few of her teachers. She smiles when she recalls the time her statistics teacher approached her with a sticky note in hand on which he’d written something to the effect of “I know it’s you”.
“He used deductive reasoning and analyzed my handwriting,” she says. “He noticed I don’t use an apostrophe when I’m writing the word “you’re”.
Today, a sunny day in April just a couple of weeks before deCordova is set to graduate with her associate in arts transfer degree, there are about twenty sticky notes hanging in the Elm staircase hallway where it all began. One reads “You are loved and cared for.” Another: “We love because He first loved us. John 4:19. Another: “I lost my girlfriend of three years. Stay strong. If I can, you can too.” DeCordova points out her all-time favorite: a cartoon of a "Totoro"-like animal that says “Find beauty in the small things.”
In her time on A-B Tech’s campus, deCordova has never met any of the other sticky note authors. “I’m surprised,” she said. “A few of my teachers saw me doing it. I never thought other people would add to it,” she adds. “I thought it would just be me.”
Recently deCordova’s cover was blown at the Spring Achievement Award Ceremony when A-B Tech President Dr. John Gossett invited her to come onto the stage and presented her with a certificate of appreciation for her encouragement of the A-B Tech community. Gossett announced he is creating the “Sophia deCordova You Make a Difference Award” to be given out each year. As he elaborated in a recent email, “We have plenty of people trying to bring attention to themselves; I would like to honor people who do not want to be the center of needless, fleeting attention, but those who want to give back. Someone who doesn’t need the spotlight, but wants the gratification of helping others.”
DeCordova says she was surprised by the recognition. “I was really surprised, honored, and touched. I’m still kind of in shock.”
DeCordova is currently applying to universities for a degree in Social Work and hopes to go on to work with the elderly or children. Will the tradition continue after she leaves campus? Haire said she will continue to supply sticky notes and pens and hopes the students will do the rest.
As for deCordova, when asked if she’ll continue to post notes on her new campus she grins. “Probably. I can’t help it. I like to do it; it makes me happy.”