It was July 27, 2009 when I arrived at the boarding school. I was okay with being sent away. I was just happy to be out of my house and away from my parents. I just wasn't expecting to be sent to a place like this.
On the way there I asked my escorts where we were going. California! This was going to be great. Beaches, big cities, warm weather. I was so ready to get out of green, cold Oregon. When I got out of the car I was very disappointed. There were no outdoor shopping malls, no beaches, no nothing. Just trees, dirt, and log cabins. It looked like a ski resort.
I was introduced to my buddy who would make sure that I learned all of the rules and got comfortable with them for the next few months. I thought that my parents rules were bad and that there were too many of them. This place had rules about everything it felt like. I had to put on a uniform and then it was off to meet all of the other girls.
First rule, no talking for your first three days there. No talking? That was fine with me. I was used to not talking. Before I got there I was a depressed quiet girl who spent all of her time sitting in the corners just watching life go on before me. At home all of my talking was done online or through text. It was the most amazing feeling after my third day there though to have dozens of girls run up to me and ask me all about myself. I felt like people actually cared about me and wanted to know who I was. Little did I know that I would be doing the same every time another new girl showed up.
On my fifteenth birthday my biological parents called me for the first time. They gave me their mailing address and we stayed in contact. My favorite sibling to write was my older sister Virginia. I had three siblings now. My older sister, and a younger sister and brother. About half way through my first day of being able to talk I was called to the office. When I got there I was handed the phone. My adopted mom was on the other end. All the excitement of the day was gone. My little brother had called my mom to ask her to please let me know that my older sister had committed suicide. I returned to the dorms and curled up on my bed. I didn't want to be asked anymore questions. I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. Unfortunately I didn't have a choice.
I learned to be happy at the school and I opened up a lot while I was there. They became my family and my closest friends. Yes I had my bad days and us girls had our fights but we always managed to make up. Everyone loved everyone else. Cliques didn't stay cliques for long. After a couple days there would be a different clique with a new obsession. Bracelet making, drawing, hat making, putting on Justine Bieber concerts in the dorm, whatever it was that we could find to entertain ourselves.
It was very routine there. Breakfast, school, lunch, school, p.e., showers, dinner, movie, bed. We learned to learn, love, and live with our routine. The best days were when we were surprised with a day off campus where we would go to In 'N' Out, or the movies, or the lake.
There were levels from level A to K. Then it went K1, L, L1-L4. on L4 the girls got to graduate the program. I never graduated. On my eighteenth birthday I made the choice to come home. It was a very difficult decision for me to make and an even harder one to tell them that I was making. I didn't want to leave all of the girls and the staff, but I was ready to get back into the "real world." On October 21, 2011, four days before my birthday my parents showed up to take me home. I didn't get to say goodbye to any of the girls. I was taken to the dorms where I packed up what little I had and said goodbye to the staff that were there in the office. Fifteen months! That's how long I was there for. I took in every tree, bush, blade of grass, rock, whatever we passed as we drove down the mountain. I was sad to be leaving, but excited for what the future held. I never thought I'd return and I wondered if I would ever see these girls again.
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