Senators want to learn everything about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her confirmation hearing. Her brother Juan remembers learning very early – his sister loves the law.

To explain, he walked us down memory lane in the Bronx where they grew up in a public housing project.

In the sixties, when Juan and his sister Sonia were growing up, she wasn't interested in watching “The Munsters” or “Bewitched.”

“My sister forced me to watch ‘Perry Mason’ and ‘Judd for the Defense.’…She knew she was going to be a lawyer,” says Dr. Juan Sotomayor.

They were big dreams for the inner-city girl whose parents were immigrants from Puerto Rico. The children lost their father when Sonia was nine. Their mother, who eventually became a nurse, was a strong believer in education.

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In this handout image provided by The White House on May 26, 2009, Judge Sonia Sotomayor poses for a photograph in 2009. Getty Images

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After weeks of meeting senators and preparing for tough questions, Sonia Sotomayor on Monday begins the formal hearings on her nomination to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will start considering whether Sotomayor should be the 111th person to sit on the nation's highest court. If confirmed, she would be the third woman justice.

Sotomayor, 55, received a good-luck telephone call Sunday from President Obama, according to a White House statement.

Obama "complimented the judge for making courtesy calls to 89 senators in which she discussed her adherence to the rule of law throughout her 17 years on the federal bench," the statement said. "The president expressed his confidence that Judge Sotomayor would be confirmed to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court for many years to come."

Democrats who hold a majority in both the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate predict she will easily win approval from both.

Do you support Sotomayor's confirmation? Tell us what you think.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/16/intv.anita.hill.art.jpg caption="Anita Hill tells CNN's John Roberts that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is an 'excellent' choice for the Supreme Court."]

The Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing for a history-making confirmation hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Another woman who once found herself before that same committee is sharing her views of the president's nominee.

Anita Hill testified in 1991 in front of the Senate confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas that he made harassing sexual statements to her as her supervisor. She is currently a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis University.

Hill attended law school at the same time as Judge Sonia Sotomayor and supports her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. She spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.

John Roberts: You were a year behind Judge Sotomayor at Yale University Law School. What qualifies her to be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court?

Anita Hill: Well, if you look at her outstanding record on the bench, you can look at her outstanding academic record. She has a wide variety of professional experience before she got on to the bench. I think she's infinitely-qualified to be the nominee and we will see during the confirmation process how well she's qualified to actually receive the vote of the Senate.

Roberts: Much has been made of the fact that she's a Hispanic woman. How much do you think that plays in to the nomination, her choice, and her eventual confirmation? Is she the most qualified Hispanic judge to sit on the Supreme Court? Or is she the most qualified judge who happens to be Hispanic?

Hill: I think she's very well-qualified. You know…if you look at her record, if you look at all of the credentials she brings, including all of her background, her incredible life story, I think all of those add to her qualifications. I don't know if we want to talk about what is the most qualified person in the country. There are a lot of very talented people out there. But certainly no one could question that this woman is not highly-qualified.

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Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is on Capitol Hill today meeting privately with Senate leaders who could decide her fate. Meantime, the current Supreme Court justices will be judging Sonia Sotomayor in a different way when they consider her ruling in a race discrimination case.

During his presidential campaign, President Obama suggested that he hoped to have an administration that would be post-racial. In other words, not hung up on matters of race. But several Republicans say Judge Sonia Sotomayor's own words have put the issue of race front and center in her nomination to the Supreme Court.