"I get angry when some people say you are less than a woman because you didn't have children," she told CNN. "The choices of how you manage your life should be your own." Sotomayor worried becoming pregnant "could be compromised by my childhood diabetes. I thought I would regret trying to have children."

Sotomayor admits feeling "overwhelmed, terrified" sometimes in her role as one of only nine justices, having the final say in important issues like national security and same-sex marriage. So, too, as a role model for millions of young people of all backgrounds.

Guiding her is a mixture of self-confidence and quiet anxiety, of "not wanting to disappoint myself. I set high standards for myself," she said. "I wasn't born a justice, I work at being a justice. I work at how to be an influential voice."