I hid from everyone after my 16th birthday, the day everything changed. What should have been a celebration quickly morphed into a moment of overwhelming realization—a stark reminder of the expectations and pressures that came with growing up. Surrounded by friends, I felt an unsettling weight on my shoulders, as if the world was watching, waiting for me to become someone I didn’t recognize. In the days that followed, I retreated into the shadows, finding solace in the corners of my room and the pages of my journal. I needed to escape the noise and the judgments, to discover who I really was beyond the facade. As the days turned into weeks, I explored my thoughts and dreams in solitude, slowly piecing together the fragments of my identity. Hiding became a sanctuary, a necessary pause that taught me resilience and the importance of embracing my true self in a world that often demands conformity.