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When Sonia Sotomayor was a kid in New York City, a TV show about a lawyer inspired her to dream about working in a courtroom. Eventually, that dream turned into a career—and a seat on the bench of the most powerful court in the country.

Sotomayor is one of the nine justices (judges) on the United States Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices are appointed by the U.S. president and approved by the Senate. Their decisions impact every American because they rule on whether laws are fair according to the U.S. Constitution. When Sotomayor joined the Supreme Court in 2009, she became the first Hispanic American justice. 

 Sotomayor, whose parents were from Puerto Rico, grew up in a part of New York City called the Bronx. In September 2022, Sotomayor returned to her old neighborhood to see the unveiling of a statue that was created in her honor. The statue is now on display in a shopping center that’s not far from her childhood home.

“[The statue is] quite amazing,” Sotomayor told the Associated Press. “Looks a lot like me.” 

Although Sotomayor now works in Washington, D.C., where the Supreme Court is located, she’s proud to be from the Bronx and continues to feel a connection to it. 

“I love the Bronx. I love my community,” she said.

Sotomayor is still a huge fan of the New York Yankees, the baseball team that plays its home games in the Bronx. When she wasn’t watching baseball games, young Sotomayor watched Perry Mason, a TV show about a lawyer. The show influenced her decision to become a lawyer, which put on her a path that eventually led to the Supreme Court.  

“[Being chosen for the Supreme Court] was the most electrifying moment of my life,” she once told TV host Oprah Winfrey. “[It was] a moment in which you sit and realize that you’ve gone further than any dream you ever had, that you’ve reached something that never seemed possible.”

Gabriel Clark loves woodworking. The 12 year old from Cumbria, England, has been making things out of wood ever since he was given his grandfather’s hammer about eight years ago. Recently, Gabriel found a way to use his talent to help children in Ukraine.

Gabriel hatched his idea after his work gained newfound popularity, thanks to a shoutout from his dad. Gabriel was selling handmade bowls and cutting boards and planned to use the money to buy a new mountain bike. To help, his dad posted on Twitter, suggesting his followers might check out Gabriel’s products on Instagram. The post went viral, and Gabriel soon had more than 200,000 Instagram followers. He also had thousands of orders for wooden bowls. Gabriel realized he could use his platform for good.

On April 2, Gabriel announced that he would hold a raffle. The prize would be one of his homemade bowls, and the money would be given to Save the Children’s Children’s Emergency Fund. The fund is currently being used to help children in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February. The bowl Gabriel made, which he named “My Bowl For Ukraine,” is etched with blue and yellow rings, in honor of the Ukrainian flag.

On April 17, Gabriel made an announcement on Instagram.

“We have a winner!!” he wrote. “My Bowl For Ukraine has a new home. Even though the raffle is finished, we’ve kept the [donation] page open until next weekend as donations are still flooding in.”

Gabriel had initially set a fundraising goal of 5,000 British pounds (about 6,155 U.S. dollars). As of April 25, he had raised 255,000 pounds (about 313,950 U.S. dollars). “I want to know that I can make other children’s lives better by doing a little bit of something in my own life,” Gabriel told People magazine.