At age 16, you may not yet have chosen a career path. But for Dafne Almazán, her 16th year is when she became the youngest person to earn a master’s degree in psychology. Dafne actually became the world’s youngest psychologist in 2015 at age 13 after she received her degree from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM).
At a young age, she became homeschooled after her intellectual giftedness was detected. At age 7, she finished elementary school. At age 8, she finished secondary school, and by age 10, she graduated from la preparatoria, according to Sopitas.
After receiving two degrees from ITESM, Almazán is already gearing up to earn her doctorate. She estimates that by age 25, she’ll have completed her schooling and will have embarked on her career. Dafne wants to use her degree to help other gifted children, who before learning of their intellectual capacity suffer from low self-esteem. A study conducted by Centro de Atención al Talent (Cedat) in 2013 found that despite an estimated 1 million gifted kids in Mexico, only 4 percent learn how to harness their talents as they reach adulthood. Factors like bullying in schools, for example, can lead to disinterest in academics, according to USA Today.
Dafne’s brother, who is also gifted, faced some of these issues growing up. “I’m trying to prevent other children from having to go through the same experiences as I did,” Andrew told USA Today. “…Prodigies are often wrongly diagnosed with ADHD, and parents have no idea how to deal with them. Many are rejected by their classmates and their teachers.”