Bryce Miller, holding one of his nature photographs.

By Harry Kane

Every so often one of us bucks the trend. Bryce Miller is one of those individuals who has successfully gone out into the world and taken the bull by the horns, riding his way towards a promising future.

Miller, 29, has been coming to the Walnut Street Center for nine years. The center offers support to adults with disabilities. Four years ago Miller was able to get a job at Macy’s in Belmont Center. “I have to clean the store by vacuuming before the customers start coming in,” says Miller. “When the customers are coming in, around ten, I would clean the class doors and sign out. I also help at the loading dock at Macy’s.”

Miller enjoys working and has even taken on a second job cleaning the Walnut Street Center after hours. And, recently Miller has taken on a third position volunteering at the Creative Union, a gallery and store where many of the artists from the Walnut Street Center display and sell their artwork.

The Director of Day Services at the Walnut Street Center is impressed with Bryce’s unbridled enthusiasm. Craig Fletcher has been working at the center for the past 19 years and has watched Miller grow up. “Bryce is someone who has a multitude of interests. He does everything from cross-stitching to weight lifting to ballroom dancing. He loves to learn new things and his social life is far more busy than mine,” says Fletcher.

On occasion, Miller may go see a live music show, perhaps at the Precinct in Union Square or at Middle East in Central square. He may open the Creative Union Store and run the cash register or go on an excursion and take nature photographs. These are the types of things that Miller hopes to do more of, and the more he does, the more he wants to do. Getting out in the world, meeting new people and experiencing life to the fullest is what Miller aims to do as he excels up the ladder of manhood one step at a time.

“He’s persevered and is now independently working,” says Fletcher. In Somerville, Bryce Miller continues to work at Macy’s by day and reach for the stars by night.

~Video by Harry Kane