Swirling Worlds: EP.8 - Silas Sandles

On the eighth episode of Swirling Worlds: Inside the Mind of a Student-Athlete, I was joined by Silas Sandles, a Senior Sports Communications major and men's tennis player here at Piedmont University. Sandles was an incredible guest on the show as we talked and broke down some of the reasons he came to Piedmont instead of taking other offers on the table. "When I first looked up Piedmont, I did not want to go here," said Sandles. "I did not see anything but trees; I grew up in the city, I don't like nature, and that's all I saw when I searched Piedmont." He also explained that he was heart-set on attending William Peace, another Division 3 school in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Since coming to Piedmont in 2020, Silas has been known not only around campus for being dominant on the tennis court but also for being a bright spot around the entire campus. "I would say that I'm well-known on campus; sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it's not," said Sandles. "Sometimes I just want to go to the cafe and be alone, and everyone asks me to sit with them, but I can't say no because that's rude," Silas mentioned the job opportunity he was blessed with here at the University, where he will be starting full-time after graduating in May of 2024.

Some interesting facts about Sandles are that he has played tennis in every state on the eastern coast except eight of them: New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, and Rhode Island. And, he started playing tennis 15 years ago and has represented Texas for ten years at numerous national tennis tournaments.

When I asked Sandles what his dream school was, he mentioned that as a kid, he really wanted to go to UCLA, but as he got older, he realized that Los Angeles was extremely far from his home in Texas. Instead, he paid more attention to a school that was a bit more local, Baylor University, which is located in Waco, Texas. "I played a tournament out there (Baylor University), and their courts were nice," said Sandles. "They are only two hours away from the house, and at the time, I wanted to be a lawyer, and they have one of the better law schools in Texas." He then gave Piedmont the praise that it deserves, stating that Piedmont has turned him into a better academic student and helped him become the student he is today.

Thinking back on when you may have been picking a college, what were some of the reasons that you didn't attend you dream school?