“I never thought I could share one of the most traumatic and saddest moments of my life. We all moved past it, including my family. It is as if it never happened, but it did! The truth of the matter is that I have battled with many issues for years, due to that Hell of a place I was sent to. It was in the middle of nowhere, with strangers who abused me. Why was I sent there, you may ask? For being a rebellious 13-year-old who was tired of being mentally and physically abused.
I was picked up one day and taken to Genesis by the Sea. When we got there, I was dragged inside by a bunch of other girls and staff members. I cried and screamed for my family to help me, but all they could say was, “I’m so sorry.”
I was stripped naked and thrown in the shower. I was isolated from the world and told that no one would be able to help me or believe me, so it was useless to try to speak up. There were times where I could not use the restroom for days, to avoid detention and writing thousands of lines for breaking nonsense rules. We could not talk for days, weeks, and even months at times. I was forcefully fed meat, even though was (and still am) a vegetarian. If I did not eat my food, they would blend it and force-feed it to me. I am talking about the food they saved for over a week from all the meals I did not eat. They laughed at me and said that it was fun to watch me swallow my food.
We were also given pills to take every day, and I have no idea what they were for. I know of many girls who were beaten by staff, some were allegedly raped by the founder of the school. We had to do intense labor, including cleaning busy highways in Mexico—putting us in danger of being kidnaped or murdered! They had us working there from early morning until night.
I remember being so sick after they made us run during a crazy thunderstorm, by the ocean. It was freezing cold, and we were drenched from the rain. I was told if I threw-up they would force me to eat it. We had to read the Bible three times a day. We also went to church, I believe, twice per day.
They would make us do ridiculous games for our “Fun Friday Nights,” that were humiliating. This included throwing pieces of meat at us while we stood still and making us carry a cow’s tongue across a huge field. We could not listen to anything other than Christian music, and TV/movies, unless the staff wanted to watch them; then we would be forced to stay up all night and work all day the following day.
The founder of these sister boarding schools was accused of rape several times, a girl also died while doing construction work in San Diego. He was forced to shut down the first school he had back in the 80s/90s in Ramona, CA. He then opened new schools in Florida and Ensenada, Mexico after that. A chain of torture.
These schools and people destroyed many lives! Girls turned to drugs, alcohol, and sex work. They developed depression, CPTSD, eating disorders, and some even committed suicide after leaving.
At the time I was sent there I was the youngest one. Older girls bullied and threatened me, while others were very protective and took care of me when they could. I was only thirteen to fourteen years old. You do not do that to an already traumatized child in an attempt to cover up her suffering.
This place made me hate people, including my family, for years. Of course, I have forgiven most of them, and we have a much better relationship, now that it has been years and I am older, but I have lived my life not being able to trust anyone. I learned to block out most of the things that happened at that school, everything is a blur now. I have had endless nightmares of trying to escape that place or being punished.
After I left GBS, I partied a lot and I did everything my family was opposed to. For once, I was able to forget about my past and be myself, I felt free! But the trauma was always there; hidden in a deep place that hardly anyone ever knew existed, until now.
The only people who can understand me are some of my “sisters” that went to school with me, who I keep in touch with. As well as other strangers from all over, thanks to Breaking Code Silence, and Paris Hilton for being so strong to come forward as a fellow survivor.
It has been a while since I moved on. I used to zone-out often while being in there, we were like robots. I would look out the window and stare at the ocean. I promised myself that I would come back to that place as an adult, so I did, back in 2009. After the school was already raided and shut down by officials over numerous reports of abuse. There I stood at my old school, sobbing for hours inconsolable, then, I let go!
I did not want that school to own me or define who I was becoming. I found some sort of closure and decided to prove to everyone that I was a strong person, and I fought my battles on my own. There has always been something that has kept me going. I realized that there was more to life than to be stuck in the past. Genesis By The Sea made me stronger, and nothing could break me. In a way, it prepared me to be a much tougher person out in the real world. Every bad thing that has happened in my life has made me stronger.
I am not the type of person who likes self-pity because I am extremely prideful and independent. The reason why I am sharing my story, encouraging other girls to come forward and join other survivors, is to bring down this invisible and corrupted industry of boarding schools, who profit so much money from abusing troubled teens. This needs to stop now! No kid should ever have to endure what we went through.”