Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor was born in America to a Puerto Rican family. She grew up in a poor neighborhood with her mother, Celina, and her father, Juli. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a factory worker. Her home life was chaotic because of her father's drinking. Her mother often sought refuge in her work and was seldom home in the evenings until Juli's death. Sonia knew that her father's drinking caused a lot of the strife at home and expected a better life once he died. She often missed him and was surprised to find that her mother fell into a deep depression that lasted until Sonia virtually forced her to snap out of it.

Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes as a youngster. She spent days in the hospital while the doctors worked to help her stabilize and manage her disease. Initially, the adults...