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Local author shares horrors of reform school upbringing
Ulriksen was held against her will in a Baptist reform school for a year as a teenager
Chloe Brunello
Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: News
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When Michele Ulriksen was 16 years old, just days before her first day back to school as a high school junior, her parents told her that they were going to take her to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. What Ulriksen believed to be a last minute family trip, in reality, was a trip to a muted lifestyle where she would have no voice.
Ulriksen is a current Linn-Benton Community College student who is studying creative writing and women studies. She is also the author of "Reform at Victory:" a survivor's story, which can be purchased locally at Grass Roots Music and Books.
Born in 1970 in Newport Beach, Calif. and raised in Orange County, Ulriksen went to high school, had a social life and listened to music just like any other 16-year-old, but she also had parents who were so heavily religious that it was suffocating.
After sneaking out for the last time, Ulriksen's parents took her to a Baptist reform school located in Ramona, Calif. because they felt that they had no other choice.
When Ulriksen arrived at the reform school in the middle of the desert, she could see that it was outlined with a 12-foot electrical fence that was graced with barbed wire at the top.
After being carried into the building, Ulriksen was thrown into a room about the size of a walk-in closet - better known as the "get right" room - and left to sit in complete darkness.
Soon after dropping their daughter off, the Ulriksens left to return to their normal lives and routines. As a result of their decision, they moved and changed their phone number to ward off their daughter's inquisitive and worried friends who had no idea what happened to her.
Emerging from solitary confinement six hours later, Ulriksen was bluntly informed that she would be spending the next year at the school.
When Michele Ulriksen was 16 years old, just days before her first day back to school as a high school junior, her parents told her that they were going to take her to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. What Ulriksen believed to be a last minute family trip, in reality, was a trip to a muted lifestyle where she would have no voice.
Ulriksen is a current Linn-Benton Community College student who is studying creative writing and women studies. She is also the author of "Reform at Victory:" a survivor's story, which can be purchased locally at Grass Roots Music and Books.
Born in 1970 in Newport Beach, Calif. and raised in Orange County, Ulriksen went to high school, had a social life and listened to music just like any other 16-year-old, but she also had parents who were so heavily religious that it was suffocating.
After sneaking out for the last time, Ulriksen's parents took her to a Baptist reform school located in Ramona, Calif. because they felt that they had no other choice.
When Ulriksen arrived at the reform school in the middle of the desert, she could see that it was outlined with a 12-foot electrical fence that was graced with barbed wire at the top.
After being carried into the building, Ulriksen was thrown into a room about the size of a walk-in closet - better known as the "get right" room - and left to sit in complete darkness.
Soon after dropping their daughter off, the Ulriksens left to return to their normal lives and routines. As a result of their decision, they moved and changed their phone number to ward off their daughter's inquisitive and worried friends who had no idea what happened to her.
Emerging from solitary confinement six hours later, Ulriksen was bluntly informed that she would be spending the next year at the school.
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