What I find powerful is a person with the confidence to be her own self.

I always knew I was a hit record just waiting to happen.

When you do your best, people notice.

True self-esteem is realizing that you are valuable because you were born. No matter where you came from, what color your skin is, what people say about your family or what mean things people may have done to you, because you were born, you are important and you matter.

I've learned that every single trial offers us a chance to either turn away from what we know to be true, or to stand strong in who we are...

I believe that education is freedom. It provides the tools to affect one's own destiny.

When I was a kid and the other kids were home watching "Leave it to Beaver," my father and step-mother were marching me off to the library.