Age: 57
Birthday: June 25, 1954
Hometown: South Bronx, New York
Siblings: Younger brother, Juan Sotomayor (physician)
High School: Graduated from Blessed Sacrament and Cardinal Spellman High School as Valedictorian.
Colleges: Her influence to attend Princeton University came from her High School Debate Coach, Ken Moy, alumni. She won a scholarship to attend. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa as proof that she continued to excel in college. She received the highest honor Princeton awards as being the co-recipient of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize as an undergraduate. She then attended Yale Law School.
Home-life: She and her younger brother were raised by her widowed mother. Her mother was a nurse who instilled, at a young age, the importance and value of obtaining a good education. Her mother, like many Latinas, would work six days a week to help meet the needs of her two children. She sacrificed a lot for them, but in the end, their education was well strived for. They attended private high schools and went onto prestigious colleges. Her younger brother is now a physician and she, a nominee of the Supreme Court system. She is the first Hispanic to be elevated the high court system. Being a Latina woman makes the idea of "dreams come true" a reality.
"Once I focused on becoming a lawyer, I never deviated from that goal."
Inspiration: Not surprisingly Sotomayor was well educated, even at a young age. After the death of her father at age nine, she submersed herself into the adventures of Nancy Drew. There is a forced to be reckoned with, by reading, she obtained knowledge and gave her the idea of becoming a lawyer because she wanted to help people. "I noticed that [defense
attorney] Perry Mason was involved in a lot of the same kinds of investigative work that I had been fascinated with reading Nancy Drew, so I decided to become a lawyer," Sotomayor told the American Bar Association publication in 2000. "Once I focused on becoming a lawyer, I never deviated from that goal."
What could possibly make a Latina women classified to take such a prominent title? Maybe it was her background of being raised by a single mother with her younger brother, or having been instilled with the knowledge that education is a well -treasured value, or with her intellectual background of attending prestigious schools; that made her qualified to be appointed as part of the Supreme Court system. Her intellect, humility, judge of character, determination, strength of mind and heart, and persona give her qualities that make her an inspiring role model. Forget the celebrities who only come on the media for the gossip and juicy stories they bring, Sonia Sotomayor is here gaining attention from the media because she will continue to mark history before our very eyes. A WISE LATINA INDEED!
