Rock Island Today

This year, Keith Sands will have an interesting answer to the question, “What did you do for summer vacation?”

Augustana's track and field all-American currently is in Tanzania, Africa, where he is in training for the Peace Corps. Even while half a world away, though, the Silvis native manages to reap athletic honors. Sands recently was awarded a $7,500 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, according to Augustana's athletic website. Sands is the school's 37th recipient of the award.

“I'm honored to receive this award,” Sands recently told Rock Island Today. “Early on in my career at Augustana, I would hear of the people that had received the award and only could dream that my name could be along with theirs. Without having these people as my friends and role models who created the academic and athletic culture at Augustana, I could have never achieved this scholarship.”

Sands said he has until 2019 to use the scholarship. He will return from Tanzania in October 2018.

Until then, Sands will be teaching math through the Peace Corps, once his current nine-week training course is done. During his time in Tanzania, he also will “help teachers become better teachers, and help spread awareness and information about HIV/AIDS.”

While this is Sands' first experience with the Peace Corps, it's not his first time teaching in another country. During his junior year at Augustana, he said, he studied in Jamaica, and taught math in intercity Kingston during the second half of the trip.

“I absolutely loved this experience,” he said. “My senior year, I realized that I would like to continue to have experiences like this, so I started to look into it.”

One of his professors, John Clauss, has experience with the Peace Corps and helped guide Sands into volunteering with the organization. So far, Sands said he loves the experience -- even with the changes in lifestyle.

“Getting ready is more difficult than I am used to because I need to take a bucket bath to bathe, and food needs to be made with a charcoal stove,” he said. “I'm then in class all day trying to learn the language.”

Sands said the locals are helpful whenever he or another volunteer make a mistake in language or cultural norms.

Sands graduated in May with a 3.78 grade point average in mathematics and secondary education, according to the Augustana website. Also that month, he claimed fifth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Track and Field Championships. His eligibility at Augustana may be through, but he plans on continuing his running career. He said that running these days is difficult because of his busy schedule, but he's trying to stay in shape, with an eye toward running a half or full marathon in Moshi at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in March.

Sands said he plans to apply to graduate schools after he takes some time off following his return to the U.S.

“I can only assume that I'll be a different person by the end of this experience, so as of now, only time will tell,” he said.