Ketanji Jackson is a favorite for Biden's historic Supreme Court pick

WASHINGTON — U.S. Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the front-runner for a historic Supreme Court nomination, graduated with high honors from Harvard College, was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a law clerk for Justice Stephen G. Breyer.

But she credits her years as a high school debater and national champion with setting her on a path to success in the law.

"Of all the various things that I've done, it is my high school experience as a competitive speaker that taught me how to lean in despite the obstacles," she told law students at the University of Georgia in 2017. "I learned how to reason and how to write," she said, adding it gave her "the self-confidence that can sometimes be quite difficult for women and minorities to develop at an early age."

Jackson, 51, never stopped leaning in. She has been the favorite for the next Supreme Court seat since President Joe Biden