A UX Design student at Jacksonville University just landed a summer internship at IBM, and the story behind this achievement is just as inspiring as the destination itself.
Madison Freeman didn’t get there by accident.
It all started inside a classroom, in a Creative Entrepreneurship course, when her professor Katie Webber encouraged her to take LinkedIn seriously. That was exactly where Madison found the job posting that would change the direction of her academic and professional path.
After a two-month hiring process that included a technical interview and a direct conversation with her future manager, she secured her spot on IBM’s DevOps team, where she’ll be focusing on user experience at scale. 🚀
And the most interesting part is that this achievement didn’t come out of nowhere. It was built with dedication, curiosity, and a solid foundation formed back in high school, when Madison was already teaching herself HTML and JavaScript and building her own websites and games.
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A journey that started long before college
Before she ever set foot in a college classroom, Madison already showed a genuine interest in technology and digital creation. Back in high school, she spent her free time learning programming languages on her own, exploring HTML and JavaScript with no curricular obligation — driven purely by curiosity. That kind of behavior, which many people might dismiss as just a hobby, was actually building a technical foundation that few students have when they arrive at college. While learning how to structure pages and add logic to her projects, she was also developing a visual sensibility and an intuitive understanding of how people interact with digital interfaces — which is exactly at the heart of UX Design.
For Madison, that interest gradually turned into something deeper. What started as pure curiosity eventually became a true calling when she realized the most meaningful application of her skills was using them to help people. In her own words, UX/UI design isn’t just about making something look good or work smoothly. It goes much further: it’s about understanding what someone actually needs, where they’re running into problems, and designing a solution that genuinely makes their experience better. That human-centered mindset is precisely what separates a good designer from a truly exceptional one.
When she arrived at Jacksonville University and started studying design with an emphasis on user experience, Madison wasn’t starting from scratch. She was actually formalizing and deepening something she had already been doing in practice for years. That edge became clear throughout IBM’s hiring process, when she needed to demonstrate not just theoretical knowledge but also the ability to think through real solutions for real usability problems. The technical interview, which tends to be one of the most challenging moments for any candidate, was something she handled with a maturity that stood out throughout the entire process.
On top of that, the way she combined technical knowledge with communication skills and the ability to present ideas was a decisive factor. In UX Design, having good ideas isn’t enough — you need to articulate them clearly for cross-functional teams, colleagues, and managers who don’t always have a design background. Madison demonstrated exactly that ability during each stage of the process, which further strengthened her candidacy in a highly competitive race for a position at one of the most recognized technology companies in the world. 💡
The role of the university and a professor who made a difference
Jacksonville University has been consistently investing in connecting its students with the real job market, and Madison’s story is a direct reflection of that commitment. The Creative Entrepreneurship course, taught by professor Katie Webber, was the environment that created the right conditions for this opportunity to emerge. It wasn’t just a class about career strategies or how to put together a portfolio — it was an experience that challenged students to see themselves as professionals in training, ready to compete in a real market.
Webber equipped students with practical career tools, guiding each of them through LinkedIn strategies, portfolio development, and best practices for building resumes. Beyond that, she assigned projects that mirrored real-world design tasks, bridging the gap between academic experience and what students would actually encounter in the workforce. As Madison herself put it, her professor didn’t just teach design — she taught how to be a designer in the real world. And it was precisely that practical approach that turned her degree into something far more valuable than just a sequence of courses.
That encouragement made all the difference. Madison started optimizing her profile, connecting with professionals in the UX Design space, and actively tracking opportunities that popped up on the platform. That’s how she found the internship posting at IBM — a position that, without that effort, probably would have slipped right by. What seems like a simple detail — using a professional network effectively — actually reflects a much deeper behavior: the willingness to act with intentionality about your own career, without waiting for opportunities to show up on their own. And that’s something a lot of students still underestimate during college.
For Madison, this internship represents the perfect chance to apply everything she’s been learning and building at Jacksonville University in a real, high-impact environment. The relationship between her and her professor also illustrates something that goes beyond the traditional classroom. Informal mentorship — the kind that happens in hallway conversations, through honest feedback, and in the encouragement a professor gives when they believe in a student’s potential — has an impact that no resume can accurately measure. Katie Webber didn’t just teach content; she helped Madison see her own value in the market. 🎓
What to expect from the IBM internship
IBM is known worldwide not just for its size and influence in the technology sector, but also for how seriously it treats design and user experience across its products and platforms. The company has one of the largest and most structured UX Design practices in the corporate world, with dedicated teams working alongside engineers, data scientists, and product managers. Stepping into that environment as an intern is a learning opportunity that goes far beyond what any course or certification could offer, because design there happens at real scale, with real impact on millions of users around the globe.
Madison will be working specifically within IBM’s DevOps team, an area focused on the integration between software development and infrastructure operations — an incredibly rich context for anyone working in user experience. In that environment, UX challenges are unique: interfaces need to be functional, efficient, and intuitive for highly technical user profiles, like developers and engineers, who have little tolerance for unnecessary friction and expect their tools to simply work. Working at that level of demand will accelerate Madison’s professional growth in a way that very few internships could.
Beyond the technical and hands-on learning, the internship at IBM will expose Madison to a collaborative, data-driven work culture where design decisions are grounded in user research, usability testing, and behavioral metrics. That approach is exactly what the UX Design market expects from professionals who arrive ready to contribute from day one — and Madison, with all the groundwork she’s already laid, has everything she needs to make the most of this experience and turn it into a competitive advantage that will follow her throughout her entire career. ✨
Looking ahead: the Silicon Valley dream
The IBM internship is just one step in a much larger journey. Madison’s long-term goal is to land a UX Design position at a company like Google or Apple — a place where her work can reach millions of people around the world. That ambition, far from being just a distant dream, serves as a compass guiding every choice she makes throughout her education, from the projects she decides to take on to the skills she chooses to sharpen.
And the preparation for that future is already underway. One of the most interesting aspects of studying at Jacksonville University is that, as a smaller university, professors can offer independent studies for motivated students. This creates a valuable opportunity for students to customize their education and explore areas of interest with much greater depth. Next semester, Madison will be doing exactly that kind of independent study alongside professor Katie Webber, with a focus on user experience and interface design.
The plan for this project is ambitious and practical at the same time: develop a data dashboard and create a brand-new product from concept to completion. That kind of hands-on experience, where the student follows every stage of a real project, is exactly what builds a strong portfolio and prepares someone for the challenges of the most competitive technology market in the world. For anyone just getting started in UX Design, Madison Freeman’s story is proof that curiosity, dedication, and having the right people by your side can turn a personal interest into a career full of possibilities. 🌟
