It seems as though history always remembers the firsts. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the first American college, Harvard, and the list goes on. One of the most recent firsts in American history is the first Hispanic American to become a Supreme Court Justice, appointed by the first African American president, Barack Obama. Sonia Sotomayor is more than just a name that will go down in history as a first. Sotomayor is the embodiment of the American dream, someone who came from nothing and rose above her humble beginnings to become a leader. In her autobiography, “My Beloved World,” she recounts her struggle with being diagnosed with diabetes at the age of seven, the people in her world that shaped her for better or worse, and her…show more content… She describes the first insulin shot her father had to give her, his hands trembling “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.” (p. 3) This almost eight year old girl knew that from that point on she had to depend on herself to survive. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother was a workaholic, Sotomayor found solace and refuge with her Abuelita. Her father died when she was nine, she seemed to forgive her father more quickly than she was able to repair her relationship with her mother. “When I look back on my childhood, most of my memories are mapped on either side of certain fault lines that split my world... the starkest contrast is between the before and the after of my father’s death.” (p. 65) This fault that fractured her childhood was a turning point for her. After her father’s death, the family seemed to rebuild and it was a happier time. As much as she loved her father, he was a chaotic force in her life. Her mother, Celina was a practical nurse and worked hard to make sure Sotomayor and her brother Junior, received the best possible education. Sotomayor graduated as valedictorian from Cardinal Spellman High School and received a scholarship to Princeton University in the fall of