Becoming You

Your family has always been really clear about what they think is right and wrong — about politics, or religion, or how people should live their lives. You've…

A boy in your grade, Marcus, has started to wonder if he might like boys, not girls. He hasn't told anyone. He's not even sure yet — some days he feels…

You've noticed you're not really the same person in every part of your life. With one friend group, you're loud and joke around constantly. With another,…

Amara just moved to a new school where she's one of the only Black girls in her whole year. In her old school, this never felt like something she thought about…

Your body has been changing a lot lately, and honestly, it doesn't always feel like yours. Some days you catch your reflection and it looks like a stranger for…

Devan has started going by a shortened, easier-to-pronounce version of his name at school, because he's tired of correcting teachers and hearing kids mangle it…

You've been friends with the same group since middle school. Lately, though, being around them feels different — like you're performing an old version of…

Riley has never felt totally at home in the words people use to describe girls or boys — not in a dramatic way, just a quiet sense that neither one fully fits.…

You grew up going to church (or synagogue, mosque, temple — whatever it was for your family) without really questioning it. It was just part of the week, part…

Jordan was recently diagnosed with ADHD, after years of being called lazy, or "just not trying hard enough." Part of Jordan felt relief — finally, an…

Most of your friends live in bigger houses, take vacations you can't afford, and talk about brands like they're just normal. You've started noticing the…

Maya's mom is Korean and her dad is white, and for as long as she can remember, people have had opinions about what that makes her. Some Korean relatives have…

Your parents have talked about you becoming a doctor since you were little — it's just always been the plan, the thing everyone assumes about your future. The…

Theo has always known he was adopted — his parents have never hidden it, and he's grown up feeling loved and secure in his family. Lately, though, he's started…

You live with a chronic illness (or disability) that most of your friends don't have to think about — managing symptoms, medication, appointments, energy that…

Everyone in Priya's family calls her sister "the smart one." It's said casually, like a fact, not an insult — but it's left Priya with a role too, even though…

Camila has always known, without ever really being told directly, that part of her family's immigration status is something you don't talk about outside the…

People have called you "intense" or "too much" for as long as you can remember — too loud, too emotional, too into things other people shrug off. Or maybe it's…

You've got strong opinions about a few political or social issues — the kind of opinions you feel pretty confident about. Lately, though, you noticed…

Sam has started noticing something that doesn't fit the categories people around seem to expect — attraction to more than one gender, not a clean split, not…

Max has always loved to learn — reading for fun, playing chess with his dad and grandma, doing well at school without ever really trying. It was just part of…

Ana is one of the sharpest people in her grade to talk to — quick, funny, always has an opinion worth hearing. What almost nobody knows is that reading has…

You've gotten used to being the one who knows the medication schedule, who can explain your parent's diagnosis to a confused relative, who has learned which…

Neil skipped a grade a few years ago, and on paper, it's worked out — he keeps up academically, teachers are impressed, and his parents talk about it like a…

You got held back a year, and now you're sitting in classes with kids you used to call younger. Your old classmates moved on without you — some still say hi in…

Elena's parents split up two years ago, and since then her life has run on two separate operating systems. At her mom's house, screens are limited and dinner…

Kai has two moms, and for most of his life that's just been an unremarkable fact about his family — the same way someone else's parents might both work long…

You're the only one in your friend group without a phone, or without the apps everyone else uses to make plans. Your parents have their reasons, and part of…

Deja has been the biggest girl in most of her classes for as long as she can remember. Gym class means picking teams last. Clothes shopping with friends means…

People have called you pretty for as long as you can remember — it's usually the first thing anyone says, the compliment that comes before anything else does.…

Leo has always known he experiences things a little differently than most people around him — certain sounds and textures feel unbearable when nobody else…

You stutter, especially when you're nervous, tired, or being watched — reading aloud in class, giving a presentation, answering a question you actually know…

Noor has lived in four countries and gone to five schools, all before finishing what most of her peers would call middle school. Her dad's job moves the family…

English isn't the first language you learned, and even though you're fluent now, you're still aware of your accent in a way that makes you think twice before…

Trevon has been in foster care for a while now, and he's learned some things the hard way — mainly, that getting attached to a room, a routine, or a person…

You live with your grandmother, not your parents, and while it's been true for as long as you can remember, you still hit moments where it takes extra…

Ife has always known her family loves her. She's also always known, in a way nobody had to explain, that her darker skin gets talked about differently than her…

For a few years now, things at home have been hard — money's been tight, or a parent's been struggling, or a sibling's needed more looking after than a sibling…

Bianca's body changed earlier and more noticeably than most of her friends'. She didn't choose the timing, and she didn't choose the way people started…

You've gotten good at reading your parent's mood the second you walk in the door — the tone of a hello, the sound of footsteps, whether the kitchen light is…

Yasmin is one of the only girls at her school who wears a hijab. Most days, nobody says anything at all. Some days, someone asks a question that's clearly…

You're the funny one. Have been for years — the one who can read a room and lighten it, who turns your own worst moments into a good story before anyone else…

Grace was adopted as a baby into a family of a different race than her own. She's never doubted that she's loved — her family has never made her feel like…

Wren has always felt a half-step out of sync with everyone else — not in any one obvious way, just a persistent sense of working harder than other people seem…

You're the one everyone comes to. A friend's parents are fighting, someone's going through a breakup, someone else just needs to vent about nothing in…

Mia's first real relationship ended a few weeks ago, and it hasn't stopped surprising her how much it hurts — not just missing the person, but something…

You've been told you look older than you are for as long as you can remember — first as a passing comment, now as something that shapes how people actually…

Camila and her twin sister Val have been "the twins" for as long as either of them can remember — introduced together, photographed together, mixed up…

You and Dylan have been friends since elementary school. Over the past year, though, he's changed — not overnight, just gradually, the way a lot of real change…

Look back at the last year. Your body's different. Some of what you believe is different. Some friendships have changed shape — grown closer, drifted, ended,…

You've built a version of yourself online — a profile, a feed, an account. And looking at it honestly, it's not really you. It's the best bits, the cool…

You posted something and then you watched. Refreshing. Counting. Comparing how many likes you got to how many other people got. A good number felt amazing —…

A girl called Priya spends a lot of time as her online self. There's the Priya at school and home — and then there's the Priya in her feeds, chats, and posts,…