What I Learned

My parents came to this country with no money and very little education. There were nine of us, my mom and my dad and seven of us kids, in a small house. Coming from a big family helped when I worked on Capitol Hill. I knew how to deal with people who I didn't agree with and who didn't agree with me. That means working with Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, and building coalitions to help accomplish your objectives.

You do ultimately have to have a moral compass. For me, it is the ideals and values that my parents passed along to me when I was young. A belief in opportunity and the American Dream have all come together as values that define who I am. My dad never had a brand-new car. When he retired, he was making $18,000 a year; that was the most money he ever made. These are parents who scrimped, who sacrificed, who put in overtime. We wanted to honor their sacrifices by pursuing our education. Six of the seven of us have postsecondary degrees.

I'll never forget taking my parents into the Oval Office when I worked in the White House. My dad, standing up so straight and proud, stuck his hand out to meet President Clinton and said, "Thank you for giving my daughter this opportunity." And President Clinton said, "I hired Janet, and she walked you into this office, but you're the ones who got her here." I know the power of the American Dream, and I want to be able to give that to others.

Donna Orender
President, WNBA

When I was young, I loved sports because of my dad. He read the sports pages and he loved the New York Mets. I thought if I could talk to him about that, I would be connected to him. But at a certain age, my parents grew concerned that their young daughter was so engaged with sports. I played stickball on the street with the boys, and my dad said, "OK, enough." It was kind of an awkward discussion: "You've been a tomboy, but starting tomorrow, you'll be a girl." I continued to play stickball, but when I heard my dad's car coming, I would sit on the curb. My dad would pull in the driveway and I would say, "I'm just sitting here cheering, Dad."

Now I see that everything I've had the opportunity to do began in sports. Being a competitive athlete gave me a sense of myself—of accomplishment, commitment and achievement—that has sustained me every step of the way. I played, ultimately at a high level, at a time when most women didn't play sports. I learned that your choices can put you in places that are not in the mainstream, and that impacts how you deal with other people, how you deal with yourself and how other people look at you.