 Streep 's mother , whom she has compared in both appearance and manner to Dame Judi Dench , strongly encouraged her daughter and instilled confidence in her from a very young age . Streep has said : " She was a mentor because she said to me , ' Meryl , you 're capable . You 're so great . ' She was saying , ' You can do whatever you put your mind to . If you 're lazy , you 're not going to get it done . But if you put your mind to it , you can do anything . ' And I believed her . " Although Streep was naturally more introverted than her mother , at times when she later needed an injection of confidence in adulthood she would consult her mother , asking her for advice . Streep was raised as a Presbyterian in Bernardsville , New Jersey , where she attended Bernards High School . Author Karina Longworth described her as a " gawky kid with glasses and frizzy hair " , yet noted that she liked to show off in front of the camera in family home videos from a young age . At the age of 12 , Streep was selected to sing at a school recital , which led to her having opera lessons from Estelle Liebling . However , despite her talent , she remarked that " I was singing something I didn 't feel and understand . That was an important lesson — not to do that . To find the thing that I could feel through " . She quit after four years . Streep had many Catholic school friends , and regularly attended mass . 
