SONIA SOTOMAYOR THE SUPREME COURT S FIRST HISPANIC JUSTICE father a factory worker whose highest level of school had been the third grade never really adjusted to speaking English regularly after moving from Puerto Rico Spanish is the most common language in Puerto Rico and in her early years Sonia and her family spoke mostly Spanish around the house Because of this when Sonia went to school in New York City Her mother s insistence on getting an education and setting high standards started Sotomayor on the road to
BECOMING THE BEST she had to take her lessons in a language she did not regularly speak Language was not the only challenge Sonia faced When she was seven she found out that she had childhood diabetes Then when she was nine her father died This meant that her mother had to work long hours as a nurse to support the family and they had to live in a public housing project Despite all those obstacles Sonia's mother made sure her kids understood the importance of getting an education She told them I don't care what you do but be the best at it Young Sonia took that advice seriously She was the valedictorian which is an honor for being the top student in one s class in both grade school and high school QUICK FACT As a student Sonia Sotomayor won academic awards in grade school high school and
sONIA SOTOMAYOR THE SUPREME COURT S FIRST HISPANIC JUSTICE Her excellence in school earned Sonia something that would have been beyond the dreams of most people growing up in the South Bronx a chance to go to college at Princeton University one of the best schools in the country Her mother did not have enough money to send her to such an expensive college but Sonia's achievements in high school won her a scholarship to Princeton Though she had earned her place at a top level school Sonia found the adjustment to Princeton to be difficult at first Having grown up around fellow Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics Sonia found the mainly white student culture at Princeton to be unfamiliar and the classwork was much harder than anything she had encountered before However she found a way to bridge the gap between her childhood world and Princeton She joined Puerto Rican cultural and political groups on campus so she would feel in touch with her roots but she also took extra English and writing classes so she could better communicate with the mainstream of U S culture Io
BECOMING THE BEST The hard work paid off Sonia not only earned a college degree from Princeton but she also won high honors and awards for the quality of her work PURSUING A CAREER IN THE LAw By now Sonia Sotomayor had her eyes on a career in the law She went to Yale to get a law degree and then passed the New York State bar exam in 1980 Passing this exam qualified her to practice law and she got a job as an assistant district attorney in New York City Assistant District Attorney Sotomayor was responsible for presenting cases against accused criminals in court These cases often involved crimes that were violent such as murders robberies and child abuse It was a tough job but her boss described her as a fearless and effective prosecutor After five years as an assistant district attorney Sotomayor got a job with Pavia Harcourt a law firm in Manhattan Here she practiced a very different kind of law usually involving business issues On top of her years II
