It's the trials and tribulations that really test a person, and coming through those difficulties is what shapes a person's character.

I feel confident that no player can step on court against me and feel confident that they will come out the winner. Every match I take part in, I have an equal shot of coming through as the winner.

What is best to hope for and what everyone is working towards is to elevate the quality of women's sport and to bring it to a level where it is seen as something that is very entertaining, something to be admired, to be looked up to, to put it in that level playing field as a product to be sold equal to the men.

I strive to get better and better in understanding how the world works.

You know, growing up, I lived in a neighborhood in Long Island where there was basically one black family. And I remember hearing all the parents and the kids in the neighborhood say racist things about this family.

For some students, school is the only place where they get a hot meal and a warm hug. Teachers are sometimes the only ones who tell our children they can go from an Indian reservation to the Ivy League, from the home of a struggling single mom to the White House.

No doubt, the White House thinks the American people know Obama's story. But since the Inauguration, we've seen only the president's present: his perfect family, his Ivy League elegance, his effortless mastery of complex issues. We never see him sweat. And we forget that he ever had to struggle.

I don't have children, but I imagine if parents are really pushed on the subject, they probably have favorite children.