This paper presents my developmental experience in becoming an analyst as the daughter of one of the first psychoanalysts in a growing city in northern Mexico. Using historical and social context, I will explain my training conditions. In medieval times, maltreatment was impossible to avoid, and competence was a personal quest. My psychoanalytic education has been widened in scope by research that afforded me the opportunity to free my “psychoanalytic spirit.” Acceptance of reality and openness to new experiences are crucial for transformation. Answers can be found by considering new, unprecedented possibilities and striving for excellence through curiosity-driven research.

On awakening, the dinosaur was still there.