Washington ( CNN ) -- Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor touted the benefits of affirmative action in her personal and professional life , telling CNN in an interview that diversity programs helped open new worlds and made her more determined `` not to fail , to work hard , to succeed . '' Her sudden fame as the first Latina member of the high court still surprises her . `` I still get chills sometimes when I walk in into this building and when I enter the courtroom to hear a case , '' she said on Friday . Sotomayor , 58 , has a new autobiography out this week , `` My Beloved World . '' It is a candid and deeply personal account of her early life . She seeks to inspire by revealing often painful chapters in her self-described `` extraordinary journey . '' This includes her father 's early death from alcoholism ; a complex , often distant relationship with her mother ; growing up poor in the Bronx projects ; self-doubts about her looks , a brief failed marriage , and her professional path . But her strengths are celebrated , too . Self-reliance to the point of giving herself insulin shots at age 7 , after being diagnosed with diabetes ; her loyalty to a large circle of friends ; and vivid pride in her Puerto Rican heritage . Sotomayor spoke at the Supreme Court with CNN `` Starting Point '' anchor Soledad O'Brien and CNN en Espanol 's Juan Carlos Lopez in separate cable-exclusive interviews . Sotomayor was named to the high court in 2009 after 17 years as a federal judge in New York . She will formally swear in Vice President Joe Biden during separate inaugural ceremonies on Sunday and Monday . She told CNN the responsibility was `` surreal . '' `` I practice everything I do over and over again , and so I have been saying the oath out loud for a couple of weeks now , a couple of times a day . But I wo n't be relying on my memory either , '' she said . `` I 'll have a card with me . I like having a security blanket . '' Chief Justice John Roberts stumbled when he recited the oath of office to President Barack Obama four years ago , without benefit of a card containing the constitutionally mandated words on it . Roberts will do the honors again , at the president 's invitation . `` I was thinking just a couple of days ago , if I think back when I was a kid -- which of the two would seem more improbable to me , '' said Sotomayor of sitting on the high court and swearing-in the vice president . `` I realized each one was so farfetched that I could n't have imagined either . '' Her memoir spends a good deal of time discussing being one of the first beneficiaries of affirmative action , when she entered Princeton University in 1972 as one of the few Hispanic and women students at the time . `` It was as if I had landed in a different world , '' she told O'Brien . `` It was so foreign to me you really did feel like an alien . '' But she succeeded academically , graduating with top honors . `` You ca n't help but feel different , '' she said of entering the university and later the legal profession as a minority . `` It makes me sensitive to that , not as a judge , but as a person . Every judge has a different life experience . '' The high court is currently deciding whether diversity plans at the University of Texas in Austin unfairly discriminate against white students . She would not talk about that case or any appeal before her . Sotomayor acknowledged that her colleague , Justice Clarence Thomas , takes a different view of his experience as an African-American growing up in the same era . He has spoken of feeling stigmatized , believing many teachers and fellow lawyers were skeptical his accomplishments were earned fairly . He has since questioned the value of his Yale Law School education , the same institution attended by Sotomayor . `` My book talks about the negative aspects '' of feeling discriminated and stigmatized herself , Sotomayor said . Through hard work and her own talents , she was able to succeed through every professional step in life , and the justice felt she could always `` hold my head up high . '' Her narrative is also revealing about her personal life , especially the decision not to be a mother . `` I get angry when some people say you are less than a woman because you did n'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 was n't born a justice , I work at being a justice . I work at how to be an influential voice . ''
Interview keys on release of new autobiography , ' My Beloved World ' Sudden rise as first Latina president still surprises Sonia Sotomayor . She discusses personal and professional relationships , painful memories . She will swear in Vice President Joe Biden at inaugural .