Esmeralda Duran

Many of the elite among France's politicians and diplomats call the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris their alma mater. So will Esmeralda Duran, a Tarrant County College grad extraordinaire.

Duran is preparing to enter the Paris Institute of Political Studies' two-year masters program in economic law.

She expects a linguistic challenge. "I speak French fluently," she said, "but I've never had to take actual coursework in French. It's going to be difficult."

But she faced other foreign-language challenges, as a child.

At age 5, after Duran's family immigrated from Mexico to Fort Worth, she spoke only Spanish. She soon mastered English.

"I am self-driven," she said in an email from Paris.

Her drive and a passion for learning propelled Duran from Carter-Riverside High School where she was a top student to TCC's Cornerstone Program and then to Southern Methodist University where she earned a full-tuition scholarship and a Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. She was graduated last December with degrees in English and French.

Duran also earned a coveted Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Continuing Scholar Graduate Award that provides as much as $50,000 a year for up to six years of graduate study.
She credits much of her success to the quality of education and encouragement she received at TCC. "It paved the way for greater transition in life," she said. "Now, everything seems possible."

- by David House