Suggestions for a similar idiom or synonym.

I am writing a personal narrative which will be due this Wednesday. In it I used the phrase " I stuck out like a sore thumb" which does not match the rest of my essay well. The majority of my essay is written in a formal and descriptive format and I checked the thesaurus however I do not believe that " I was conspicuous/prominent as I desperately searched..." works very well. Please give some suggestions for other words or phrases. Any are very appreciated.