"There is a giant difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don' t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn' t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.
"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don' t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose". She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At year' s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it' s never too late to be all you can possibly be.
上学的第一天，教授向化学班的全体同学作了自我介绍，还鼓励我们去结识并不认识的人。我站起来向四周望去，正在这时，有人轻轻拍了拍我的肩膀。我转过身来，看到一位满脸皱纹、个子矮小的老太太正对着我开心地笑着，她的笑容使她看起来容光焕发。
她说道：“你好，英俊的小伙子。我是罗斯，今年87岁。我能不能拥抱你一下？”
我笑了，热情地回答道：“当然可以。”她给了我一个大大的拥抱。
“你为什么在这么年轻、这么纯真的年纪选择上大学？”我开玩笑地说。
她也开玩笑地回答：“我到这里来就是想找一个有钱的丈夫结婚，生几个孩子，然后退休去旅行。”
“你不是在开玩笑吧？”我问道。我非常好奇，想知道是什么力量使她在这样的年纪去迎接这样的挑战。
“我一直以来的梦想就是接受大学教育，如今我终于如愿以偿了。”她告诉我。
下课之后，我们走进学生会大楼，一起分享了一泡画巧克力奶昔。没过一会儿，我们便成了朋友。在接下来的三个月里，我们每天都会一起离开教室，进行长时间的交谈。我骗常入迷似的倾听着这位“时间机器”分享着她的智慧和骗验。
整整一个学年，罗斯成了校园里的偶像，不管走到哪里，她都会很轻松地交到朋友。她喜欢打扮自己，因为大家投给她的关注使她兴奋不已，她陶醉于欢乐之中。
在学期即将结束的时候，我们请罗斯在足球宴会上致辞，我永远不会忘记她给我们的谆谆教诲。在主持人介绍之后，罗斯走上了讲台，就在她要开始发表早就准备好的演讲时，几张三寸乘以五寸的卡片从她的手里掉到了地上。她有点儿沮丧，有点儿尴尬，她向着麦克风倾了倾身子，坦言道：“不好意思，我抖得厉害。我于四旬斋节时戒了啤酒，威士忌太烈了！我无法整理好今天的演讲，如此一来，让我和你们说说我所知道的事情。”我们听完之后哈哈大笑起来，她清了清嗓子，开始了她的演讲：
“我们并不是因为老了才不再动了；而是由于停止运动，我们才会变老。想要拥有年轻、快乐、成功，只有四个秘诀：
“每天要开怀大笑，要保持幽默感。
“心怀梦想。一旦失去梦想，你就完了。
“了解慢慢变老和不断成长之间有着天壤之别。你19岁，在床上躺整整一年的时间，不做任何有益的事，你变成20岁的人。我87岁，在床上躺一年，不做任何事情，我会变成88岁。每个人都会慢慢变老，这不需要任何才能。我想要说的是，要通过在变化中寻找机会而不断成长。
“不要心怀遗憾。老年人往往会感到遗憾，并非为自己已做的事，而是为自己尚未做过的事。害怕死亡的人都是一些留有遗憾的人。”
她精神十足地以歌曲《玫瑰花》结束了她的演讲，激励我们每一个人去研读歌词，于日常生活中实行歌中传达的箴言。
年终的时候，罗斯取得了多年之前便开始攻读的大学学位。在毕业一周后，罗斯在睡梦中静静地离开了人世。有2000多名大学生参加了她的葬礼，他们用这一行动来表示对这位伟大女士的敬重。她用自身骗历告诉我们：实现梦想，永远不会太迟。
努力永远有机会
The Day I Flunked Out of Law School
佚名 / Anonymous
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 clerk ships and prestigious law firms.
But I decided to try again and went to see Clifford Mills, the dean of Westminster Cortege 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 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à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à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。”
一扇门关上了，其他门敞开了。
得到了第二次学习的机会，我更加努力地学习，并且逐渐对证据法产生了浓厚的兴趣。第二年，教这门课的教授去世了，学院居然请我教授这门课程，这种事情在波尔得那样的法学院简直是无法想象的。多年来，我一直为全国各地的法官、法学专业的学生和见习律师讲授这门课程，证据法成为我的终身专业。
与此同时，白天我在丹佛市检察官办公室做职员，这是一份没有什么吸引力的工作。然而，这段骗历让我在毕业后找到了担任市助理检察官的工作。
我在28岁的时候成为一名县法官，同时也是丹佛市最年轻的法官之一。后来，我当选为地区法官，再后来，我被总统任命为联邦司法部美国地区法官。最后，我又回到了波尔得，为的是接受科罗à多大学的乔治·诺林奖和荣誉法学博士学位。
每个人或早或晚都会在人生大事上遭遇一些短暂的挫折，不管是工作、梦想还是各种关系。正是因为被法学院开除，我才成为一名更加优秀的法官，对此我深信不疑。毋庸置疑，这个骗历让我认识到了人性的弱点，认识到给予别人第二次机会的重要意义。
除此之外，我也从失败中懂得，人生的旅途充满了不可预知的岔路口和意想不到的明天。你不能让自己被失败摧毁，不能让别人束缚自己实现梦想的能力，而是要充分利用这些挫折。
执著的追求带你走向成功
Transform Dreams into Success with Persistence
汤姆·莫里斯 / Tom Morris