Beginning her journey toward a master’s degree from DePaul University’s College of Communication was so important to Nicole Coleman that she commuted nearly 300 hours from Tennessee to Chicago on a Greyhound bus to complete her first course.

The motivation for Coleman’s 13,000-mile trek was the flexible, cutting-edge graduate journalism program, which allows students to “dip and dabble in lots of things,” Coleman said, including online, broadcast and print journalism. DePaul was one of the first to offer a graduate journalism class in Twitter and offers graduate courses in niche journalism, reporting for converged newsrooms, backpack reporting and entrepreneurial journalism. It also encourages interdisciplinary studies.

Coleman, 27, said she considered universities nationwide before making DePaul her No. 1 destination. “I was obsessed with finding a diverse program that would allow me to take courses in more than one aspect of media. From a pool of 300 schools, I created a ‘Top 5’ list, and DePaul was No. 1 on my list,” said Coleman, an only child who draws inspiration from her parents, Quenston and Andrea. “I fell in love with the M.A. in journalism program, and I knew that it was the right one for me.”

Despite the joy of being accepted into the program, Coleman deferred her dream for a year so she could save money to pay for grad school by working at a children’s museum in Chattanooga.

Despite financial setbacks, doubts and fears, Coleman began her long commute to her first course at DePaul in September 2009. The Greyhound bus departed Chattanooga at 9:30 p.m. Monday and arrived in Chicago at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in time for her to get to journalism Professor Bruce Evensen’s class, which began at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesdays. She would then stay overnight at a hostel in Chicago before boarding the bus at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday to return to Chattanooga at 7 a.m. Thursday. Throughout her journey, Coleman documented her experiences and the interesting people she met along the way. She intends to write a book about her adventures one day.

“I don’t think Nicole realizes what an inspiration she is,” said Evensen. “Her story has been a powerful motivator to others. Graduate students are at an age where they should be encouraged to have dreams and hopes and work toward the fulfilling them. DePaul is the place they can come to realize their hopes and dreams.”

To those who have doubted and discouraged her from pursuing her dreams, Coleman says with a quick smile, “I’ll invite them to my graduation.”

Coleman is again enrolled in one class at DePaul for the winter quarter, which started in early January, and for now is staying in the Chicago hostel rather than making the 15-hour commute to and from Chattanooga.

“This works for now while I look for employment and more permanent affordable housing,” said Coleman, who has made lasting friendships with the people she met at the hostel.

Classmate and friend Alexandra Clark was so inspired by Coleman’s story that she wrote about it in the student newspaper, The DePaulia, and did a video documentary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTU75SWpOqg) about Coleman’s commute for “Good Day DePaul,” a student-run television show that airs on DePaul’s campus. 

“Her story needed to be told, and at that point I just really wanted to help her,” Clark said. “The more that people find out about Nicole’s story, the more they are willing to help her.”

DePaul’s College of Communication is the second-largest provider of master’s degrees in communication in the state. It is the third-largest provider of bachelor’s degrees in communication in Illinois and second-largest in the Chicago area. Graduate programs include journalism; media and cinema studies; public relations and advertising; and organizational and multicultural communication. It offers undergraduate programs in journalism; media and cinema studies; public relations and advertising; and communication and media.