The drivers to pursue an academic education were curiosity of how learning processes take place and how behavior molds. I am a Psychology Assistant Professor at Dona Ana Community College. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Biology at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). I pursued and earned a Master of Arts in Psychology and a PhD in Psychology / Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder. My postdoctoral position morphed from animal research (University of Nebraska Medical Center), into human trials in the field of NeuroAIDs (University of Nebraska at Lincoln). Having the opportunity to reside and work in different States and internationally (Zambia, Africa), I had a rare experience to teach / train students of various cultures, socioeconomic status, genders, and career trajectories. I developed a strong background and knowledge base in research and channeled that knowledge into a research foundations course while at the UTEP. I transformed the research foundations curriculum into a textbook titled, The Novel Researcher, What You Need to Know Before Doing Research. The book is a guide for students to think critically and a method to organize, digest, interpret, apply, and arrive to novel ideas. I was also an adjunct faculty with Excelsior College at the Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas where I taught various courses in psychology. I am committed to training students to gain skills in critical thinking from a research perspective to understand the diverse fields that comprise the discipline of psychology.