Sonia Sotomayor Essay

Sonia Sotomayor an american icon or some may say an american slash latino superhero to her ever growing community .She became the first latino women to be appointed to the united states supreme court . Sonia Sotomayor the elder of two beautiful children born to Jaun and Celina Baez Sotomayor in the south bronx area of New York city . Sonia born June 25,1954 in the bronx area of new york city where she lived her two parents and siblings. Sonia was a very curious and passionate child drawing inspiration from helping people. Sonia grew up in the bronx housing projects which she endured hardships and pain throughout her childhood . Her father was an alcoholic for most of her young life while her mother was very distant emotionally which spured

her to find comfort with her loving grandmother of whom she spent most her time with she gave sonia a sense of protection and purpose in her life.

Sonia struggled with obtaining the english dialect which proved troublesome for her as she aged in an area that was truly diverse in its ethnic roots ,english was still prominent language spoken at her school .Celina sonia’s mother stressed education to her kids eventually purchasing the Encyclopedia which was very unheard of in the housing projects .Around the age of nine sonia tragically lost her father to a heart attack .This event traumatized her it was at this time she worked extremely hard to learn the english dialect .Soon sonia discovered the child detective Nancy Drew who became her hero . Due to her diabetes doctors told sonia maybe a different career would better fit her .It was during this time she discovered the perry mason television show that inspired her to pursue becoming a judge .Despite the emotional gap between her and her mother sonia graciously credits her mom for her becoming invigorated by education. Her mother provided her with a hard workers mentality which she instiled since a young age gaining her a job at a retail store ,her becoming captain of the forensics team in high school , to becoming student government all leading to her becoming valedictorian in 172 at graduation ,

Sonia attented Princeton University while attending the perstigous university the young sonia felt very overwhelmed by her surrondings she was no longer in her comfort zone of the bronx area she was in alien country as she once stated .Sonia realized she needed to conquer her new place in the world and due to her optumistic attitude she sought out help from her proffesors and classmates to enhance her english ,confidence,and knowledge she spent countless hours in the libary studying day and night trying to improve her skills .Within that time she became a student activist of the Acción Puertorriqueña Organazation . Sonia described these groups as an outlet for her to adapt while providing an anchor in a new world she was getting acoustumed too .She began working with the university disipline committe to work on her legal skill set.

Sonias reletionship with her parents has provided a tunnel of success for her how?u would ask well im here to argue my point that maybe sucess is relative to who we truly are or that sucess breeds a respect amongts our peers and compatriants .

Are we truly defined by success or what are the attributes that creates sucess in sonias case the reletionship with her parents has breed her to become a supreme court justice of the united states and the first latina women to ever do it that is a huge accomplishment that sonia has stated countless times in her memior on how proud she is to hurdle herself into this feat . Sonias mother and father were immirgrants that traveled all the way from the island of puerto rico to provide a better life for their children .Education was the mainframe within the household she grew up in it was the main componet that provided a way out of the housing projects in the bronx . I beleive education is a ticket for a way out for a lot of under privledge kids in america sonias mother beleived this whole heartedly she would constantly push her kids through academics by purchasing books for them to read and to gain knowledge because she saw the importance of it. Now u might think wow! She had the most supportive mother in the world . It wasnt all education when it came to the reletionship between sonia and her mother.Sonia’s mother Celine endured hardships growing up in puerto rico her mother dealt with health problems all throughout her childhood .Celine

mother died at the age of 9 she was then raised by her older sister.She too suffered the lost of a parent making her parenting difficult not knowing how to show her young child love but kept a through line on helping her kids achieve greatness through education .“I have come to believe that in order to thrive, a child must have at least one adult in her life who shows her unconditional love, respect, and confidence.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World.Sonia confided in her mother when she became a supreme court justice her mother filled with joy as she watched her child achieve a goal . sonia’s mother was remembered as strict parent but also someone who was understanding in this sonia applied this trait to her activism and caring of others .

Sonia took the values of her parents and turned it into a thing of courage maybe sometimes we don’t realize what are parents do even in the subtle things that they provide to us along the way .

Due to a lack of English Sonia found it harder to relate to anything that she found foreign to her being but also that she was only subjugated to the slums of the Bronx that created her childhood. Although her mother and father sacrificed to provide better her relationship with them hindered the growth of her conscious she had find different ways to cope . Her grandmother gave her solace and safety this created a net in which she was able to bypass her relationship with her parents in order to conquer her hardships and forge a path forward on her way to becoming a Supreme Court justice . Education was just one formula the next was her inspiration she drew from other powerful women and men other then her parents she found adventures in Nancy drew books which took her to a world of being a detective but due her diabetes the doctor proclaimed she find another career path to soothe her quest for knowledge. She found her next inspiration from a popular tv show know as the roger mason law show as she watched in glee an taken back and forth through the pleasure of someone having the power to decide a person well being or their future. I think in this process it intrigues her to know that yea your parents can influence and mold you but you can also find inspiration from other outlets of

discovery. Once her father died the relationship between mother and daughter futher pulled away but Sonia credits her mother for not only inspiring her but for giving her the tools and gifts to find another to get out of the slums of the Bronx yet giving her the means to want to aid others and to provide solutions for other people’s problems. Everything that has happened between parent and child has a huge impact on the development of ones story and in Sonia’s case it gave her a path way and the tools to forge a path to becoming a woman court justice something she says throughout the memoir she never could have imagined a day in her life and I believe that to be a beautiful thing . Sonia’s grit and peserverence helped her navigate the world and become the person she is today .She gave a great quote within the memoir . “. . . But experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it finally leads, does at least move you forward. And after a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success is not how much you've closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you've done today.”
― Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World. What can we truly define as sucess somedays i cant even place m finger on it .Is it the Experiences that we endure or is it the things that we deem important that forger our path to success. Sonia’s path was no less then clear she had endure a lot of hardships throughout her life from not receiving love from her mother at a young age to having diabetes at a young age and even her quest as an minority on a perstigious university to her difficulties learning the English language she managed to accumulate knowledge through hard work and determination. These skills of perseverance allowed her to become a US Supreme Court justice it allowed her to write a memoir on her life experiences that have created her path . I think there are many factors when it comes to determining how someone becomes successful but I also believe in hope and faith that we can all overcome are life experiences and create a better lifestyle. This memoir is an inspiration and it shows as the different facet to becoming a successful person in the world.Sonia was a dreamer like us all she believed in setting an example for the youth so that they may find was to not only inspire themselves but to inspire others within their own life journey. These are the point of views this books gives a scope to different topics that can influence our sense of knowledge and determine if we be successful through certain messages we inherited from those that come before us .
I believe that Sonia sotomayor isn’t really defined by grit and success or even the relationship she had with her parents I think she took head of her situation a created a different path for herself. I think she created a beautiful life with those experiences that I argued she didn’t let the failings of herself or her parents contribute to her downfall. She allowed her self to fail and grieve in order to grow and become a Supreme Court justice. She affirmed in what she drew inspiration from and cultivated it into not only an illustrious career but grandeur of a life . Success is derived from passion and grit and many other things but a life isn’t good because all things go our way a life is beautiful due to the overcoming of obstacles and barriers that try to keep us in a box . Sonia knew that she needed to work harder then she’s ever had to achieve and that’s what makes her the remarkable woman she is today .