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Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for so long, it's easy to forget where she came from. Seen above: Democratic presidential candidate Clinton delivers remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 38th annual Awards Gala in Washington, Oct. 8, 2015. Reuters

Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for more than two decades, and during that time she has been a national obsession, at the center of her fair share of controversy. And, while 2015 has been a year of questions around her use of private email while she was the lead diplomat for the United States and questions about foreign donations to her family's charitable organization at that same time, there's a lot that can be forgotten about the candidate.

Clinton has been on the national stage since her husband, former President Bill Clinton, took office, in 1993, as first lady, then senator from New York, presidential candidate and then secretary of state. But there are many things that are forgotten about the former secretary of state and the Democratic primary front-runner from before her time in the White House. In recent months, Americans have increasingly searched for answers about Hillary Clinton on the Web, including for her height and age, so it's worth a look back at her life before she became such a powerful national figure.

The 5-foot-7 Clinton was born in Chicago in 1947, making her 67 years old (she turns 68 Oct. 26), and grew up in suburban Park Ridge. She was a Girl Scout when she was younger, attended Maine East High School and was in the student council and a member of the National Honor Society.

Clinton went from there to Wellesley College in Massachusetts where she majored in political science. Fun fact: She was the president of the college's young Republicans. She also held other positions in student organizations at Wellesley, and became involved with the civil rights movement there.

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Then-first lady Hillary Clinton watches school children Chevon Perry (left) and Tanya Perry (right) work on reading drills in a classroom at a drug-plagued elementary school in New York City, Jan. 26, 1993. Reuters

Then came law school at Yale in Connecticut. During her time there, she advocated on behalf of children and against child abuse. It was during this time that she met future husband Bill Clinton. They were at a library when she first noticed him, and she approached him first and said, “Look, if you're going to keep staring at me, and I'm going to keep staring back, I think we should at least know each other. I'm Hillary Rodham. What's your name?”

Before the two married in 1975, Clinton went to Washington and worked on the inquiry into the possible impeachment of former President Richard Nixon. From there she moved to Arkansas, but didn’t settle down to be a housewife. She joined the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock in 1977 and kept at it when Bill Clinton won the governorship in 1978. She was criticized for it at the time, but stayed with the law firm until she left the state for Washington in 1993.