In Adana, Turkey, a town dangerously close to Syria, the perpetual war-zone in the middle east, junior Kayleigh Gerlach came home from school to find her mother watching an alert on one of the five available television channels. They were on lockdown.
Gerlach has lived on a base for most of her life. She lived on Edwards Air Force Base since birth, in desert-covered California, and moved to Incirlik Air force base in 2013-2014. During lockdown, Gerlach’s family was not permitted to leave the base. Gerlach moved to Texas during her sophomore year and enrolled at Legacy when her stepdad got a different job.
“I’m not used to being off-base and big schools. That’s what scares me the most. The fact that there’s so many people. I’m pretty sure I have claustrophobia, like in those staircases,” Gerlach said. “I was scared because when you’re in a different country, in an area with people who don’t like Americans, it’s scary. I didn’t see anything happen, but I was always worried because we were so close.”
Having arrived on the base in June, with protests going on outside the base, Gerlack experienced her first lockdown in August. Lockdowns were not constant; sometimes they only avoided certain ‘red zones’, areas off base that were considered dangerous.
“It was crazy to think that we were living so close to all the protests. It was scary, but being on the base made everyone feel more secure,” Sharon Baker, Gerlach’s mom, said.
Gerlach’s day-to-day life on the base was normal, with the exceptions of her dad working more often and being in a third-world country. There were other Americans on the base, but going off base provided an opportunity for Gerlach to experience a new culture. While staying there, Gerlach traveled to Germany for playoffs in volleyball and soccer.
“It was my favorite year. I miss it. I met a lot of great people. The experience of going somewhere and the opportunities were really great,” Gerlach said. “When I was on base I was able to walk around and hang out. It felt comfortable.”
Now Gerlach spends most of her time listening to music and focusing on her studies. She also enjoys spending time with people and getting to know them. Gerlach wants to join the peace corps to help people in poverty after finishing her education.
“I really like helping people because it’s what I’ve always done. I was raised to be kind,” Gerlach said. “When I see different people I like to talk and build connections.”
