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Background
From a very early age my family made me aware of my abilities related to teaching, and this guided my choice of career at the secondary level, where I trained as a Bilingual (Spanish–English) Pre-primary Teacher. I then continued at the technical level at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) with the Specialised Teaching Diploma in Learning Difficulties. After completing it, I decided to move into the field of Psychology at undergraduate level; in both programmes I received a scholarship from the university’s Foundation. During my undergraduate training I was impressed and fascinated by everything related to psychological assessment, so I sought out opportunities and was awarded a scholarship by the Carolina Foundation to study the Master’s in Assessment and Measurement of Human Behaviour at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Spain.
For my Master’s graduation project I chose to research Executive Functions, and ever since then this has been the topic that has captivated, guided and awakened my interest to learn more—so much so that, on returning to Guatemala, I enrolled in the Master’s in Clinical Neuropsychology programme at the UVG to inquire into brain functioning and its impact on executive behaviour, focusing my thesis topic on “Rehabilitation of Executive Functions in patients with Acquired Brain Injury”.
Thanks to my academic training and my career as a university lecturer, I was awarded a scholarship to enter the Doctoral programme in Psychology (PhD) with a double degree from the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana of Mexico and the Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala, with Neuropsychology as my research line. I am currently developing my research on Inhibition, Metacognition and Academic Performance in university students with High Intellectual Abilities.
Before joining the International Group on Metacognition, I had the opportunity to collaborate—thanks to my mentor, Dr Claudia García de la Cadena—in the Symposium on Executive Functions and Cognition with the topic “Cognitive flexibility, high abilities and metacognitive judgements in university students: a pilot study”, as well as in the Monograph on Metacognition with the article “High intellectual abilities and metacognition in adults”, both projects carried out together with Dr García de la Cadena. My drive to inquire, explore and assess has led me to carry out research projects that I have presented at both national and international conferences.
Professionally, I started as a teacher in the pre-primary area, then I was a school counsellor, which led me to be part of the Board of the Association of School Counsellors of Guatemala for 7 years. After graduating from my undergraduate degree, I began practising as a psychologist in a private clinic focused on psychoeducational assessment and intervention since 2010, and I currently focus only on Neuropsychological assessment across the lifespan. In late 2012 I was invited to be a lecturer at the UVG in the Psychology degree programme, and since then I have taught the courses Psychological Assessment 1 and 2, as well as other courses related to Neurosciences. Throughout these years I have also served as a lecturer at other private universities in Guatemala, teaching courses in Neuropsychology, Neuropsychological Assessment and Executive Functions.
Along this journey I have certainly been blessed by God and by the support of my husband, my family, friends and colleagues, which has driven me to become a better professional every day. In 2024 I will begin to direct research projects in the Neuroscience Laboratory at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, which fills me with excitement, motivation and commitment to contribute to the growth of the profession in my country.