每個人遲早都會在一些人生重大事情上遇到挫折——無論它是工作、夢想，還是一份感情。我相信，被法學院開除使我成了一名更好的法官。它確實教我認識了人性的弱點，體會到給予人們第二次機會的必要性。
但失敗也使我懂得，人生之路充滿了未知的變數，要充分利用這些變數，你就不能讓自己被一次挫折擊垮，也不能讓別人束縛你的手腳。
The Day I Flunked out of Law School
The dean of the University of Colorado School of Law decided that I couldn’t return to classes next fall because my grades were too low. He said I would never make a lawyer.
Even today words cannot describe my upset. I’d never really failed at anything significant.
After all, the University of Colorado at Boulder was a Taj Mahal—the door to judicial clerkships and prestigious law firms.
But I decided to try again and went to see Clifford Mills, the dean of Westminster College of Law—a poor man’s school with no tenured professors or law review.
After reading my college transcript, Dean Mills let me enroll at Westminster, on one condition, that I repeat all my first-year classes, this time paying attention.
“I’ll be looking over your shoulder,” he said.
One door had closed. But others opened.
Given a second chance, I worked much harder, becoming fascinated by the law of evidence.
In my second year the professor who taught the course passed away. I was asked to take over—inconceivable at a law school like ence became a lifelong specialty, and for many years I taught classes on the subject for judges, law students and practicing lawyers throughout the country. Meanwhile I worked days in the Denver City Attorney’s office as a clerk. It was anything but glamorous. But it led to a job as an assistant city attorney after graduation. I became a county judge at age 28, one of Denver’s youngest.
Later I was elected as a district judge, and then appointed by the President to the federal judiciary as a U.S. district , ultimately, I did return to Boulder—to receive the University of Colorado’s George Norlin Award, and an honorary doctorate of law.
Sooner or later everyone will fall short at something important to them—whether it be a job, a dream or a relationship.
Flunking out of law school, I believe, made me a better judge, it certainly taught me about the frailties of the human condition, and about the need to give people second chances. But failure also taught me that life is a road with unpredictable forks and unexpected take advantage of them, you can’t let yourself be destroyed by a defeat, or let others set the limits on your ability to achieve.
我被法學院開除的日子
科羅拉多大學法學院的院長決定我從下個秋季學期起就不能去上課了，我的分數太低了。他説我永遠也當不了律師。
即便到今天，也無法用言語描述我當時的失落。在大事上我從未真正失敗過。
畢竟，玻爾得的科羅拉多大學是一座泰姬陵——一扇通向司法職業和大牌律師事務所的大門。
然而，我決定再試一下，去找威斯敏斯特法學院的的克利福德·米爾斯院長，威斯敏斯特學院則是一所技校——一個沒有終身教授和法學刊物的窮人學校。
米爾斯看了我的大學成績單，錄取了我，但條件是：我得重修一年級的所有課程，並得用心學習。
“我會一直盯着你的。”他説。一扇門關閉了，但其他的門卻敞開了。有了第二次機會，我學習努力了許多，並迷上了證據法。
第二年，教證據法的教授去世了。學校請我來上這門課——這在玻爾得那樣的法學院是不可思議的。證據法成了我終生的專業，多年來我給全國各地的法官、法學院學生和掛牌律師講授這門課。同時白天我在丹佛市檢察官辦公室當職員。工作沒什麼意思，但在那兒得到了鍛鍊，於是畢業之後我成了一名助理檢察官。28歲時我成了丹佛市最年輕的縣法官之一。
然後又當選為地區法官，之後由總統任命到聯邦司法部擔任美國地區法官。而最終呢，我確實又回到了玻爾得——去接受科羅拉多大學的喬治·諾林獎和榮譽法學博士學位。
每個人遲早都會在一些人生重大事情上遇到挫折——無論它是工作、夢想，還是一份感情。我相信，被法學院開除使我成了一名更好的法官。它確實教我認識了人性的弱點，體會到給予人們第二次機會的必要性。
但失敗也使我懂得，人生之路充滿了未知的`變數，要充分利用這些變數，你就不能讓自己被一次挫折擊垮，也不能讓別人束縛你的手腳。
k n. 失敗，不及格 v. （使）失敗，（使） 考試不及格
Several students have been flunked out.
有幾名學生因考試不及格而被迫退學。
kship n. 書記的職位
re n. 享有，保有時間
orous adj. 富有魅力的，迷人的
My job is not a very glamorous one but it does have its moment.
我的工作雖不算十分吸引人，但也自有其樂趣所在。
ciary n. 司法部，司法制度，法官 adj. 司法的，法院的，法官的
orate n. 博士學位
I am going to start my doctorate in biochemistry next year.
我準備明年開始攻讀生物化學博士學位。
lty['freilti] n. 脆弱，意志薄弱，虛弱，弱點
One of the frailties of human nature is laziness.
人性的弱點之一是懶惰。
