Rice gives a pep talk to U.S. Girls’ Junior participants

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Rice gives a pep talk to U.S. Girls’ Junior participants
Condoleezza Rice gave an inspiring speech to the participants of the U.S. Girls’ Junior.
Talking to the attentive youngsters, Ms. Rice said that everyone should pursue the path they see fit for their lives. Often it takes considerable time to come to the right decision but when a person makes one, they should stick to it.
She started out with the story of her life. Rice aspired to be a career pianist with dreams of making it to the top of the ladder. Specifically, she wanted to play in Carnegie Hall, the premier destination for the music performers.
The dream looked alright at the age of three, when the young Rice started playing the piano. Sadly, when she went to the University of Denver in early 1970’s, her dreams were shattered by the simple realization that there were far talented players than her.
Talking about this monumental event in her life and the realization that followed, Ms. Rice said, “I am about to teach 13-year-olds to murder Beethoven for a living or maybe I will play [in a] piano bar or maybe I will play Nordstrom, but I am not going to play Carnegie Hall”.
This was a turning point in her life. Completely undecided about her future, she turned to English literature. This was a mistake as she had no interest in pursuing literature as a life goal. She finally discovered international politics and suddenly, Ms. Rice was content again.
This decision led the now 57-year-old Rice to be the first female African-American to serve as the U.S. Secretary of State. She retired in 2005 as one of the successful officials of the administration.
Talking to the young golfers, Ms. Rice emphasized that the best way to live life is to do what you are good at. This is particularly good advice to the girls present as many of them hope to play golf professionally.
Her story is particularly motivating to the golfers. She said, “There are two important lessons to that story. The first is searching for something that you are passionate about. Secondly, it might be something that nobody else would have dreamed of being your passion”.