. >> pelley: her own inspiration was her mother, celina sotomayor, who would end up raising the childrenly alone. your father was an alcoholic? >> sotomayor: he was. >> pelley: did you understand what that meant as a child? >> sotomayor: no. i had sort of a childlike appreciation that he couldn't help himself. i also watched him die from drinking. >> pelley: he died when she was nine. her mother pushed education, and in 1972, sotomayor was near the top in her high school class when she got an offer from a university she had never heard of, princeton. it was a combination of talent, perseverance, and affirmative action. do you think anyone ever resented the notion that you might have had a door opened for you by affirmative action? >> sotomayor: you can't be a minority in this society without having someone express disapproval about affirmative action. from the first day i received, in high school, a card from princeton telling me that it was possible that i was going to get in, i was stopped by the school nurse and asked why i was sent the "possible," and the number one and the number tw