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 Boulder. Evidence 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 attomey after graduation.
I would 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 judge. And， 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 tomorrows. To 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.
由于我的分数太低了，科罗拉多大学法学院的院长决定，我从下个秋季开始就不能再回到学校上课了。他说，我永远不可能成为一名律师。即使是今天，我也无法用语言来形容当时的烦乱心情，以前，我在重大的事情上还从来没有真正失败过。毕竟，波尔得的科罗拉多大学是一扇通往司法职业和名气很高的律师事务所的大门，它就是一座泰姬陵。
然而，我决定再尝试一下，于是就去找威斯敏斯特法学院的克利福德？米尔斯院长，这个法学院没有终身教授和法学刊物，是一个穷人学校。在看了我的大学成绩单之后，米尔斯决定接受我进入威斯敏斯特法学院，条件是我要认真地重读一年级的所有课程。他说：“我会一直关注你的表现的。”