In thePreface, Sotomayor states, “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” (8). In what ways does she believe focusing too much on product rather than process can lead one astray?

When Sotomayor was seven, she was diagnosed with diabetes, which she calls a gift. Why does she call it this, and in what ways does it shape the way she approaches any and all obstacles in life?

How does Sotomayor’s understanding of what it means to be educated change over the course of her story?