But the issue of sexual harassment is not the end of it. There are other issues - political issues, gender issues - that people need to be educated about.

If you think about the way the hearings were structured, the hearings were really about Thomas' race and my gender.

What we really need to be understanding is that all of these things matter and they all stem from the fact that certain people live with power and authority and they want to maintain it.

I was aware, however, that telling at any point in my career could adversely affect my future career.

If I hadn't had the experience of being famous, I would have searched for it my whole life. I would have just gone on and on trying to find it.

I was in this sheltered little environment where, basically, all my high school experience was in 'Life Goes On,' and everyone told me where to go, what to do, how to think - I never had to do anything for myself.

Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.

Emotional life is - alongside work - one of the great challenges of existence and is a theme that I keep returning to.