Sha Meka Miller

Sha Meka Miller first took Spanish in high school to communicate with her friends. She ended up loving the language and culture and wanted to learn everything she could about it. 

That love led her to major in Spanish. Miller, who began her studies at Upstate 25 years ago, recently returned to complete her education through the Re: Degree program.  

She’s also learning some new skills to complement her language abilities. Miller is interning at the South Carolina Multilingual Educators Network (SCMLE), a nonprofit organization that promotes advocacy, training, and community support for multilingual teachers. 

Miller’s work focuses on donor recruitment, including creating communications that explain SCMLE’s mission and achievements and requesting support for its initiatives. 

One of the projects she contributed to was the agency’s Giving Tuesday campaign. She helped brainstorm ideas and develop brand messages for promotional flyers. The assignments not only developed her professional skills but also gave her a deeper understanding of SCMLE’s impact on others.  

When Miller was last in college, social media didn’t exist. “I’m back after a 25-year stop out, so it’s a huge learning curve for me,” she says. She’s learned how to use social media as a nonprofit marketing tool and how to create promotional materials in Canva. She’s even created a few posts for SCMLE’s website. 

Miller has embraced the feedback and constructive criticism she’s received to help her improve and grow. Although she is still deciding what she wants to do next, she is grateful for the chance to have worked for a group whose mission she believes in.  

“I do think it’s important because there are so many multilingual learners here in South Carolina, and the numbers are steadily growing,” Miller says. “I believe in equality for everyone. So, I really strongly support what this organization does.”