Beyond the Measure Episode Eight: Kemarius Miller

Beyond the Measure Episode Eight - Kemarius Miller

The August episode of Beyond the Measure brings Kemarius Miller to the Bearkat Pod Lab to chat with our hosts about his experience working at the Sam Houston State University Food Pantry. The SHSU Food Pantry and its staff, like Miller, are here to help the Bearkat community keep their bellies full, so they’re ready to learn. The following lays out the discussion in a convenient Q&A format. For the full Beyond the Measure experience, watch the full episode below or on YouTube.

Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself; your major and what brought you to Sam Houston State University?

I'm a photography major here at Sam Houston State. My story isn't that entertaining, honestly. I kind of started in high school, and I knew I wanted to do something in the fine art world, but I didn't know what exactly. I took one photography class; I ended up loving it and I cruised into photography as a major.

I had a very uninteresting talk with my counselor and she brought up a bunch of schools nearby, but went too far, which was a very big concern for me and my family.

I was interested in getting a good, out-of-reach college but not being super far away from home, so it's not too uncomfortable, but I still want to grow into myself. My counselor mentioned Sam Houston; it’s two hours away from where I was, and I was like, yeah, that's cool.

I want you to tell us a little bit about the student Food Pantry that's on campus. What drew you to it and what sparked your interest?

The first time I heard about the Food Pantry was through my mom. We were looking at the different work-study options here at Sam Houston, and she brought up the Food Pantry. At first I thought it sounded interesting, but I wasn't that interested in working there. Then I started thinking about my grandparents. Growing up in their house, it was always very welcoming to anybody: family, friends, strangers, anybody.

My grandmother was always very welcoming to people. She was always willing to give back to people and to her community. I started thinking through her eyes, and I realized I'm going to be in a new place,  surrounded by a bunch of other people that are in a new place, a new world with not a lot of available options that they know of. And I think the food pantry was the perfect opportunity to grow my mind and develop as a person and to also stand on the ideals that are in me from my grandparents, my mother and my dad. That’s how I ended up with the food pantry and I've loved it ever since.

Can you walk us through a typical day at the pantry and what kind of things do you do to support students?

A typical day at the Food Pantry can be very hectic sometimes. It depends really on where we are in the week. If it's the beginning of the week, we typically have a lot of orders coming in either from Kroger or H.E.B., which includes going to pick up the orders, unpacking the orders, stocking the orders and inputting those orders into our system.

If it's a slower day at the Food Pantry, it is really about ensuring our inventory is up to date either in person or online. Because as of right now, we have Invert, an online shopping system that we've been rolling out for almost two full semesters now. When it comes to that, we like to ensure that all of our orders are up to date, everything's in date and our orders are fulfilled so we can satisfy each customer as they come in.

What's an experience that made you realize how important working there is and your work has been?

The first one that comes to mind is that I had the opportunity to work on a project with the Houston Food Bank and I basically had to interview a few students, volunteers and workers that interact with the Food Pantry. I met this amazing student, and she told me the story about how she and her daughter were coming into the food pantry every Wednesday during our old operating system. And for her and her daughter, that was their bonding moment. This was an opportunity for her and her daughter to really grow and connect with each other as a family, and it came through the food pantry. It allowed the mother to give her daughter all of the essential food that was required for the girl to be healthy and for her daughter to understand that I need to eat this, this and this if I want to grow up and become stronger as a woman.

Honestly, it really was amazing to hear about that because I've been there for at least four years now. Going there, I go there every morning; it becomes a rhythm when you're working there for so long. So to finally hear about the change you've instilled into someone else's life, it felt really good to hear that.

You've been there four years. What have you learned about yourself through this service?

I feel like I understand myself more as a leader now, and that kind of surprised me honestly, because growing up I always pictured myself as someone kind of in the background. I would definitely help out when I can, but I never really took full accountability and took charge or took full action in honestly anything.

When it came to life and working at the food pantry, I understood myself, and I really started to understand that I can actually gather a bunch of people and lead them through any obstacle that's in front of them and all work together as a team. As I mentioned, this really surprised me because I didn't think I had that capability for myself at all.

What would you say is a way that people and students can support the pantry?

Honestly, just by donating. Donating, showing up, placing orders - it goes a very long way; a very, very long way. Because yes, we do order our own food for students, but the bulk of our inventory comes from donations from all over campus. I don't think students understand how far that really goes, because you're giving back to an organization that's giving back to more students.

How can students find the information on what they can donate and where to donate?

Going to the pantry and visiting the website are very, very good. Always feel welcome to visit the food pantry. We're always welcome to help; we try to make it as warm and inviting as possible. You can also learn more by checking our Facebook and Instagram.