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My mum wanted me to go to university.

My mom never went to college, but for her own children, getting a great education was not an option.

I kept on telling my parents school wasn't for me. And they were like, 'No you need to go university.'

My mother wanted me to be a professor, because I have several people in my family who are professors at university.

I think my parents did want me to go to university just in case, but neither my mum or dad went to uni, so they couldn't talk.

Having started in sciences, I then turned around and said, 'Oh, I don't want to do sciences. I want to do philosophy.' And to their credit my parents said, 'if that's what you want to do, then go for it'. Then I got the scholarship to Stanford, which was very nice for the parents to talk to their friends about.

I was good at math and science, and it was expected that I would attend the University of Washington in Seattle and become an engineer. But by the time I was seventeen, I was ready to leave home, a decision my parents agreed to support if I could obtain a scholarship. MIT did not grant me one, but the University of Chicago did.

I was an all-sport athlete growing up. My dad, I think, hoped I would go to college on a scholarship.

It never occurred to me that I wouldn't go to college and have a career - as well as a family - of my own. Both my parents, but especially my mother, encouraged me and led me to believe that it was possible.