A Marquette University freshman and her emotional rendition of "Joy to the World" is quickly becoming a Christmas sensation online.
The school produces a Christmas video every year to send out to the campus community. It's typically sent to about 100,000 people including current students, staff and alumni.
This year a freshman from Eau Claire stars in the video, as she plays guitar outside of the St. Joan of Arc Chapel and her performance has left many people in awe.
"It's definitely been overwhelming," said Ariana Madson, who says she had no idea what to expect when they asked her to appear in the video.
She says she learned to play guitar in the fourth grade and trained her voice in her school's choir. She says she's always had a passion for music and writes original songs in her spare time.
Lauren Burke, the executive producer of the Christmas video, discovered Madson at a school-sponsored talent show and says she was blown away.
"This kind of spunky freshman came on stage and commanded the stage with her presence and did her own original music," said Burke. "We thought man she would be fantastic to sing 'Joy to the World.'"
And Madson is not only talented musically. She is majoring in Biomedical Science, and plans to apply to medical school in the future.
"I know that with my major, things are going to get hectic and crazy and I'll get overwhelmed so music is kind of my passion, something I know I can go and truly enjoy," Madson said.
The video itself tells a story of students spreading joy in the community.
"I knew immediately that it would resonate with the Marquette community," Burke said. "People told me they got a little weepy and emotional when they saw it and so did I because I feel like it embodies that feeling of Marquette and Christmas time at Marquette."
