RFHS student reels in two diplomas, including a college degree

This story appeared in the May 1, 2024 edition of The Sopris Sun. 

By Myki Jones, Sopris Sun reporter

Graduation season is fast approaching for students and their families in the Roaring Fork Valley, including the commencement ceremonies for Colorado Mountain College graduates at the institution’s Spring Valley campus, which take place May 3 and 4.

Among these college graduates is 18-year-old Esmeralda Alverde Duarte, a Roaring Fork High School senior enrolled in the Roaring Fork School District’s pre-collegiate program since her junior year.

So before participating in her high school graduation ceremony, Alverde Duarte will receive a diploma for an associate degree from CMC. In discussing her time with the program, she said it was a wonderful experience that has given her a good idea of what college life will look like.

“I wish I had joined sooner. I joined in time to go to the University of Colorado Boulder for two weeks over the summer, and it was an amazing experience for me,” Alverde Duarte told The Sopris Sun. “I was able to understand what being in the college environment is like — not only being away from home, but navigating friendships, understanding what it’s like to foster a relationship with a professor and time management.”

She spoke further about the overall experience, explaining that it helped her be less anxious about the next step.

Alverde Duarte is but one member of her family to attend CMC; her brother, Mario Alverde Duarte, and mother, Maria Eloisa Duarte Sosa, did as well. Mario later received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Duarte Sosa is known for her work with Valley Settlement — a local nonprofit that assists Latino community members through family-based programming — serving on KDNK’s Board of Directors, emceeing the Potato Day parade and more.

“There are many things set in stone for you in high school. With college, I feel like you truly get to pave your path,” Alverde Duarte shared. “If there is one thing that [the program] has taught me, it’s that learning isn’t exclusive to what people tell you you should learn.”

She has committed to Cornell University after graduation, where she plans to study environmental science and agriculture. Eventually, she intends to attend law school. She encouraged that future graduates build and lean on a support system when they need to.

“Getting what you want is hard, but … it can be attained as long as you have a good support system and … surround yourself with people who encourage and support you,” she advised.

The Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy kicks off CMC’s commencement ceremony weekend on May 3 at 1pm. On May 4, the nurse pinning and commencement ceremony starts at 9am. The Rifle CMC campus hosts its general commencement ceremony on May 3 at 6pm.

Finally, the general commencement ceremony at Spring Valley takes place at noon on May 4 with graduates from the Aspen, Carbondale, Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs campuses. Mario Carrera, the former CEO of Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy and Research Organization and former chief revenue officer of Entravision, will deliver the keynote address.