Jadin Vereen, a sophomore human resource management major, said she wants to make the workplace more accessible for deaf individuals.

Born in Conway, SC, Vereen lived in Columbia for eight years before moving to Florence in 2012.

Along with her three siblings, Vereen was home-schooled from middle school until she graduated high school. This unique academic experience is what led her to learn sign language, which began when she decided to take an American Sign Language (ASL) course offered by her local home-school group.

“I took it just as a fun class,” Vereen said. “I actually ended up falling in love with it.”

A year after she finished her first class, Vereen decided to give sign language another chance when she had the option to continue the courses in high school.

“When it came to choosing my foreign language elective for high school, I knew I didn’t want to do Spanish and I didn’t really want to do French,” Vereen said. “But I naturally talk with my hands, so I thought ‘Let’s give sign language a chance.’ I did three years of sign language for my language elective and found that it came very easy to me, and I began to incorporate it into all aspects of my life. I’m kind of addicted to it.”

Vereen said she always enjoyed business and knew she wanted to go into the field as she pursued her college career.

“My family runs our church thrift store, and my dad has worked in business his entire professional career,” Vereen said. “I’ve been around business just in general for a long time, and I’ve always known that I liked it. I like how business runs, and how you can really get to know different types of people and communicate with them and just see the different types of views.”

Though sign language may seem like it has little to do with human resource management, Vereen said her ability to interact through signing could help simplify conversations in the workplace for individuals with hearing loss.

“For example, if a company were to hire me, I would save them both time and energy because I could have direct communication with the potential client and employee,” Vereen said. “Typically, a company would have to wait for an interpreter to come to the business and translate. I can literally do all of it for you.”

Vereen recently transferred from Liberty University, where she majored in American Sign Language and Interpreting with a minor in business. She said that although she enjoyed her time at Liberty, she struggled financially with a recent increase in tuition and needed to find another option.

“As a typical college student, the majority graduate with some sort of debt,” Vereen said. “I just reconsidered taking on so much debt and realized I could still pursue my passion.”

One of the reasons Vereen chose to come to Francis Marion University (FMU) was her past experience with the school. During her senior year of high school, she was a dual-enrollment student at FMU. She said that this, as well as the reputation of the business program, was key in making her decision.

“Since I previously attended FMU for dual credit and was familiar with the campus, I knew what the classes were like and I liked the smaller size,” Vereen said. “FMU is known for their School of Business, and that’s where my major lies. So I did some research, and I just really enjoyed learning about the business program and what they’re trying to do for the individual.”

Specializing in compensation and recruitment, Vereen said she is looking forward to incorporating ASL into the world of human resources after graduating.

Though it is her first semester back at FMU, Vereen has already made a lasting impact on the university as one of four founding members of the FMU chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Vereen went on to say that she attributes much of her work ethic to her parents and the effort they put into providing for their family. She said that from a young age she learned to work hard and always strive to do her best.

“My mom and my dad raised us in a way that they wanted us to have a better opportunity in life than they had,” Vereen said. “Ever since my parents were 18 and 19, they were very independent. They both worked extremely hard and never once made excuses. That’s how I was raised. You give a hundred percent in everything that you do. No matter if it’s school, your job, whatever it is, you do your best. Eventually, it will pay off.”