She was diagnosed with diabetes at age eight and told she could not become a police officer because of it. She became a Supreme Court justice instead.
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Who Sonia Sotomayor is
Sonia Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, the first Hispanic and first Latina justice in history.
The struggle
Sotomayor was born in 1954 in the Bronx. Her parents had immigrated from Puerto Rico. Her father died when she was nine, and her mother worked long hours as a nurse to support the family.
Inspired by Perry Mason reruns, she decided to become a lawyer. She studied relentlessly, graduated summa cum laude from Princeton, and earned her law degree from Yale. At Yale she led a protest against a law firm that had not hired a Latino attorney.
Despite her credentials, she faced scepticism and prejudice. She worked as a prosecutor in Manhattan, then as a corporate litigator, and later as a federal judge.
The turning point
In 1991 President George H. W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court. In 1997 President Bill Clinton nominated her to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2009 President Barack Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court.
On the Court she has been known for sharp questioning, clear writing, and concern for ordinary people affected by the law. She has spoken openly about how her background shapes her perspective.
“I have never had to face anything that could overwhelm the native optimism and stubborn perseverance I was blessed with.”
The principle
Your background is not a limitation unless you let it define your ceiling. Sotomayor used education as a ladder and service as a purpose. She changed the face of American justice by simply doing the work.
Apply it today
If doors are closed to you, build credentials that are hard to ignore. Then use your position to hold doors open for others. Success is most powerful when it creates pathways.
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