Sonia Sotomayor - The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor

I have been asked by people of all ages, but especially by middle school students, if I ever imagined being on the highest court of the United States, the Supreme Court. No, I answer, because when I was a child my family was poor and we knew no lawyers or judges and none lived in our neighborhood. I knew nothing about the Supreme Court and how much its work in interpreting the Constitution and the laws of the United States affected peoples lives. You cannot dream of becoming something you dont even know about. That has been the most important lesson of my life. You have to learn to dream big dreams. Only an education can expose you to what the world has to offer. So much of my life story is about how education opened my eyes to the many possibilities of what I could become.

When I wrote an adult version of this book, I realized that I wanted to create another version for schoolkids. This book was inspired by kids asking me questions. I want kids to understand that dreams, even ones you cannot first imagine, can come true. Despite hardships and challenges in my life, I have been able to succeed beyond my wildest dreams, and I know you can too. Is there a secret you will discover in my book? Yes. Here it is: You should never give up trying. Doing anything new in life is scary and hard. Many times you will fail when you first try. You have to get up and try and try again. Every mistake teaches you something new. Every failure teaches what you did wrong and have to practice more, what you need to avoid doing the next time, where you need help, and how to change to become better at what you want to do. If you fail, it means you tried. If you dont try at all, you will never be in a position to succeed or to experience the joy of triumphing.

The chapters in this book are not only about how I ultimately succeeded, but also about how uncomfortable I was learning new things in my life, how hard I had to work to figure things out, and how often I had to try to get things right. My life circumstances did not naturally promise success. My story may resonate in ways that many of you will relate to. You may feel the way I felt. The challenges I have facedincluding material poverty, chronic illness, struggling to learn English, and being raised by a single momare not uncommon. For many, it is a source of hope to see someone realize her dreams while bearing such burdens. People who live in difficult circumstances need to know that happy endings are possible.

A young student once asked me: Given that there are only nine Supreme Court Justices, each with life tenure, can anyone realistically aspire to such a goal? How do we hold on to dreams that statistically are almost impossible? I admit that not everyones exact dreams can come true. But experience has taught me that the value of dreams does not depend on the odds of their coming true. Their real value lies in stirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it leads, moves you forward. After a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success is not how much youve closed the distance to some far-off goal, but the quality of what you have done today and how hard you tried.

I hope you will enjoy reading how an ordinary person like me, with strengths and weaknesses like yours, has managed an extraordinary journey. I look forward to you writing to me and telling me how hard you tried and how far you went in life.

I was barely awake, and my mother was already screaming. I knew Papi would start yelling in a second. That much was routine, but the substance of their argument was new, and it etched that morning into my memory.

You have to learn how to give it to her, Juli. I cant be here all the time!

Im afraid to hurt her. My hands are trembling. It was true. When my father had made his first attempt at giving me the insulin shot the day before, his hands were shaking so much I was afraid he would miss my arm entirely and stab me in the face. He had to jab hard just to steady his aim.

Whose fault is it your hands tremble?

Uh-oh, here we go.

Youre the nurse, Celina! You know how to do these things.

Actually, when Mami gave me the shot my first morning home from the hospital, she was so nervous that she jabbed me even harder, and hurt me even worse, than Papi would the next day.

Thats right, Im the nurse. I have to work and help support this family. I have to do everything! But I cant be here all the time, Juli, and shes going to need this for the rest of her life. So you better figure it out.