Real World Implications Post #2

     One obstacle Sonia Sotomayor had to overcome when she was young was juvenile diabetes or Type 1 diabetes. This condition occurs when the pancreas produces no insulin. The insulin is needed to allow glucose (sugar) to enter the body and produce energy. This type occurs only in 5% of cases, but it is one of the most common chronic diseases for children. Her struggle started when neither her mom or her dad  was able to give her the insulin shots she needed, and Sonia was forced to take them herself. At only nine years old, Type 1 diabetes became a scary but important part of her life.
     Sonia mentions that while her friends and her brother's wife were having children, Sonia had to be more careful about planning a pregnancy. Her mother was insistent on Kevin becoming a doctor, not for the money and security, but to understand the consequences of having a child who has a mother with Type 1. Scientists are looking in to what instigates these risks and have concluded that genetics, weather conditions, virus exposure, and early diets are possible factors. So the question is what kind of impact will a Type 1 parent have on their offspring?

     The risk for a child of a parent who has type 1 is lower if it is the mother and not the father. If the father has it, the risk is 10%, but if the mother is twenty-five years or younger when the child his born the risk is 4%. The risk is even lower if the mother is over twenty-five which is 1%, almost the same as an average American. Sonia was diagnosed at 8 or 9 years old, and if she had a child, the risk is somewhat higher because she was diagnosed before age eleven. Many people with type 1 have other immune disorders, and for those with thyroid disease and a poorly working adrenal gland the risk for is 1 in 2. These concerns made Sonia, Kevin, and her mother hesitate about having children. At the end of the chapter, Sonia says that "having it all" doesn't just mean having the job, the house, the perfect family with children but that having a great career with friends and family constitutes the "American Dream." 

Summary Post #2

     Sonia joined the debate and extemporaneous team in high school where she became very good at listening to others to plan her response. Her hard work led to a full scholarship to Princeton. At the time, she knew very little about affirmative action, and although some questioned her abilities (like the school nurse), she persevered. One thing Sonia was very careful about was money. Her mother worked paycheck to paycheck, and Sonia never really had any money of her own. After her acceptance to Princeton, Sonia wanted to buy a new rain jacket, but when she went up to the counter, the saleswomen gave her this degrading look. When her mother said Sonia was going to Princeton, the saleswomen had a new attitude and respect for Sonia. 

Princeton University

     While in Princeton, she explored new interests and learned new cultures from her classmates who were from New Mexico and Alabama. She realized how limited her view was on other people because she had been confined in New York her whole life. An experiment with rats showed that not everything ends in success and that failure should not be feared. When her mother or Kevin would visit, they would sleep in the dorm room with her (while her roommate found somewhere else to sleep for the night) because they couldn't afford a hotel room. During her time in college, Abuelita died of ovarian cancer, and Sonia felt she lost a part of herself. She credits her grandmother with a spiritual power that is her protector. 

    Sonia joined Accion Puertorriquena which was a student minority group. Some of their campaigns include trying to get the University to hire more Hispanics because not one faculty member or even a janitor was Hispanic. While working for this group, she started learning more about her Puerto Rican history by starting her own class which included lots of reading. She realized the richness of her culture had been overshadowed by poverty. Sonia also started a volunteer program at a hospital where Spanish speakers could communicate with the administration. Sonia Sotomayor received the Pyne Prize which was the highest award a senior could get. After her years at Princeton, she married Kevin Noonan which she suggest a simple, inexpensive wedding (but her mother planned otherwise).

(Kevin Noonan, Sonia's high school sweetheart)

     At Yale, she met lifelong friends (Rudy, drew, Felix, and George) and her first true mentor (Jose Cabrenes). One comment that is repeatedly mentioned is how Rudy said, "You argue just like a guy." It was a compliment although it could be taken as snide remark. Rudy meant that she stated her case and would "defy anyone to prove you wrong." She kept up her with her heritage by studying Puerto Rican immigration policies and wrote an article that was printed in The Yale Law Journal. Also at Yale, she realized her passion for the public sector of law even to her friend's disappointment. But Sonia believed that money did not define success. She worked as a rookie assistant DA during the summer and learned she had to appeal to the emotions of the jury not just logic to win cases. 

     She loved Kevin and showed it when Kevin was attending medical school, and Sonia stayed with him even though she had a 2 hour commute from Princeton to Manhattan for her work. They slowly disconnected, and they split which led to Sonia moving back in with her mother. Sonia out shined him, but Kevin was not made but instead proud of his wife. He felt she didn't need him while Sonia realized she care for everyone but was dependent on herself. She found her own apartment and began saving money for the first time. Her friends became family, and she was a godmother to many. She thought about having a child, but she was more worried about the complications because she had Type 1 Diabetes. She insisted "having it all," or the American dream, was skewed because having a successful career but no children did not mean she wasn't living the dream.