但她做到了。她在2002年的回忆录中写道：“改变活动规则以便让女性参与可能是我第一次尝试迈入被男性垄断的领域。”

这并不是她的最后一次尝试。

在学生时代，以及在律师生涯和在政治生活中，奥康纳克服了重重障碍。1981年9月25日，奥康纳突破了最后一个屏障，成为第一位担任美国最高法院(U.S. Supreme Court)大法官的女性。

名列前茅

奥康纳出生于1930年，在学习圈牛和骑马中度过了童年。但她很快对法律产生了兴趣。奥康纳就读于加州(California)的斯坦福大学法学院（Stanford Law School），并用了短短两年，而不是通常的三年，完成了她的学业。尽管她的成绩在年级中名列前茅，但是她发现，大多数律师事务所都不愿意聘用女律师。

屡创第一

于是，奥康纳当了一名政府律师，一直到返回亚利桑那州开设了自己的律师事务所，并进入本地政界。她担任了各种公职。作为一名亚利桑那州参议员，她成为第一位担任美国州议会多数党领袖的女性。1981年，罗纳德·里根(Ronald Reagan)总统提名奥康纳进入最高法院，她在为最高法院撰写司法意见中度过了卓著的职业生涯，并于2006年退休。

奥康纳因为献身于公共服务和她对法律的务实态度而受到广泛的尊重。而为美国司法系统中的其他女性开辟道路仍然是她所做的一项重大贡献。

继奥康纳之后，有三名女法官进入了最高法院：露丝·巴德·金斯伯格(Ruth Bader Ginsburg)大法官、索尼娅·索托马约尔(Sonia Sotomayor)大法官和埃琳娜·卡根(Elena Kagan)大法官。今天，大约三分之一的美国联邦法官是女性，而且人数还在不断增加。

奥康纳大法官的经历反映出妇女接受高等教育的机会有所增加。教育增强了妇女的权能，使她们成为各自领域和社区中的领袖。正如奥康纳的历程所表明的，教育能赋予女性打造国家未来的力量。

How a cowgirl from Arizona leaped barriers to make history

Sandra Day O’Connor knows a thing or two about breaking down barriers. As a girl on her family’s ranch in southeastern Arizona, she had wanted to go to the local cattle roundup, then an all-male event.

And she did. “Changing it to accommodate a female was probably my first initiation into joining an all-men’s club,” she recalled in her 2002 memoir.

It wasn’t her last.

O’Connor overcame barriers as a student, as an attorney and in political life. On September 25, 1981, O’Connor crashed through one final barrier, becoming the first woman to serve as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Top of her class

O’Connor was born in 1930 and spent her early years learning to rope cattle and ride horses. But she soon became interested in the law. O’Connor attended Stanford Law School in California, completing her studies in just two years rather than the usual three. Despite ranking near the top of her class, she found that most law firms at the time were reluctant to hire a female attorney.

Career of firsts

Instead O’Connor worked as a government lawyer until returning to Arizona to open her own law firm and enter local politics. She held a variety of public offices. As an Arizona state senator, she became the first woman to serve as a majority leader in a U.S. state legislature. President Ronald Reagan nominated O’Connor to the Supreme Court in 1981, and after a significant career writing opinions from the high court, she retired in 2006.

O’Connor is widely respected for her commitment to public service and her pragmatic approach to the law. But paving the way for other women in the American judicial system remains a big part of her legacy.

Three female justices have followed O’Connor on the high court: Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Today, about one-third of U.S. federal judges are women, and the number is increasing.

Justice O’Connor’s story reflects women’s improved access to higher education. Education empowers women to become leaders in their fields and in their communities. As O’Connor’s own story shows, it empowers women to shape their country’s future.