College: Duke University

Major: Mechanical Engineering

I live my life on sticky notes.

Dozens of colorful slips of paper cover my walls, poking fun at my otherwise spotless room. Pink ones hold song lyrics; blue, favorite book excerpts and quotes; classic tan, random thoughts and things to remember. Less arbitrary ones have ACT score breakdowns and exam schedules. Some are hung with great care, as I meticulously write out a new quote. Others are hurriedly thrown on the wall before I forget what I wanted them to say. I have organized spreadsheets and Google Drive folders for every class, but my most important thoughts are only captured on the paper on my walls.

My favorite notes, bright yellow, are to-do lists. They’re not mundane lists of “calculus homework” and “clean your room,” but long-term goals. The color is significant too. The blaring yellow appears on the wall by my bed, my bathroom and bedroom mirrors, my computer and many books and planners. They scream for attention with their bold color and Sharpie-scrawled words: 4’9”, the next high jump height I’m trying to clear; ROTC, the scholarship I’m working towards; Duke, my dream school.

All other valuable information sits safely in the cloud, as well as in a few different hard drives. But my sticky notes cannot be replicated. They remain a constant reminder of my priorities, though at this point, I’ve memorized them all anyway. My eyes scan them as I brush my teeth. I search for answers in them when I zone out at my desk. I wake up to them, and they’re the last thing I see before I go to bed. They’re me. All of my thoughts, everything I’m passionate about, is somewhere on those walls.

My friends make fun of my sticky note obsession, especially its contrast to the other organized aspects of my life. But I think there’s beauty in their chaos. They are the one part of my life in which I allow no rules, no confinements. I slap them on the walls, side by side, regardless of their content. The juxtaposition of a random song lyric next to my biggest goals makes me smile.

Most importantly, they remind me to be a little chaotic too. The sticky notes are a call to loosen up and appreciate the simple moments in life — one goal I’m still working on. Not everything needs to be perfectly achieved, with the exact right steps of getting there. Sometimes it can just be put on a sticky note on the wall. And that’s enough.