13-Life-Lessons-Every-Woman-can-Learn-from-Sonia-Sotomayor-MainPhoto

13-Life-Lessons-Every-Woman-can-Learn-from-Sonia-Sotomayor-MainPhoto

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Justice Sonia Sotomayor made history on August 8, 2009, when she was appointed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. We think she’s amazing and completely inspirational. What makes her so special? Well, she is incredibly driven and ambitious but also down to earth and personally engaging. Justice Sotomayor also published her best-selling memoir, My Beloved World in 2013, and we learned all about her past and present as well as the way she sees the future.

Justice Sotomayor says, “I savor life. When you have anything that threatens life…it prods you into stepping back and really appreciating the value of life and taking from it what you can.” We can all learn a lot from this brave woman in power, so here are 13 life lessons to learn from this dame.

1. Always speak out against inequality.
In Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, The Supreme Court upheld a constitutional amendment in Michigan that banned Affirmative Action but Sotomayor passionately expressed her dissent. Even though she wasn’t powerful enough to stop it on her own, justice Sonia Sotomayor made her opinion against the ruling very public and we admire that strength of character.

Read Related: Complex, Abiding Love: Sonia Sotomayor & Her Mother