I think being a Catholic made me a better person. It taught me how to choose good over evil, and how to be a more caring human being.

If I write a book where all I've ever experienced is success, people won't take a positive lesson from it. In being candid, I have to own up to my own failures, both in my marriage and in my work environment.

I am a product of affirmative action. I am the perfect affirmative action baby. I am Puerto Rican, born and raised in the south Bronx. My test scores were not comparable to my colleagues at Princeton and Yale. Not so far off so that I wasn't able to succeed at those institutions.

If the issue is letting the states experiment and letting the society have more time to figure out its direction, why is taking a case now the answer?

I do know one thing about me: I don't measure myself by others' expectations or let others define my worth.

I have spent my years since Princeton, while at law school and in my various professional jobs, not feeling completely a part of the worlds I inhabit. I am always looking over my shoulder wondering if I measure up.

A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.