First lady Michelle Obama today didn't miss an opportunity to help sell her husband's pick for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. At a commencement ceremony today for the Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School at Howard University, she cited the judge's story while describing how she herself felt as a high school graduate bound for Princeton University:

I was excited, but I was also worried. I was worried about whether or not I was ready, whether or not I would fit in. And I've realized since then that I probably wasn't alone in my fears, my worries. And then I read the story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

I don't know if you know about this phenomenal woman, but she's the president's nominee for the Supreme Court, and she's the first Hispanic woman to be considered for the position. The first. And she went to Princeton. And in the story, she said when she arrived at Princeton as a freshman -- and this is nine years before I would even think about going -- she said that when she stepped on that campus... she 'felt like a visitor landing in an alien country.' She said she never raised her hand her first year because, and this is a quote, she 'was too embarrassed and too intimidated to ask questions.' So despite all her success at Princeton -- and then she went on to Yale Law School, where she was at the top of her class in both schools -- and despite all of her professional accomplishments, Judge Sotomayor says she still looks over her shoulder and wonders if she measures up.

And when I read her story, I understood exactly how she feels. ... We all felt a little like you might right now. We all had doubts. We all have doubts. We all heard nagging voices, and sometimes we still do, asking us, 'Will we be able to compete in this new arena? Will I fit in? Am I really ready?' But in the end, we were all more than ready. Judge Sotomayor is more than ready.