Condoleezza Rice Essay

“Differences can be a strength rather than a handicap”. This quote was said by the inspiring Condoleezza Rice. She was born on November 14, 1954 in the segregated area of Birmingham, Alabama. Her parents were both teachers and her dad was an ordained Presbyterian minister. Her name means “with sweetness” which comes from an Italian music-related term “con dolcezza”. Condoleezza grew up in one of America’s most segregated time periods. At the age of three, she started piano lessons and became a music prodigy in her town. She was part of many extra-curricular activities including taking French and Spanish lessons, and figure skating. Condoleezza skipped first and seventh grade and began the eighth grade when she was eleven. She endured

While she was there she started the tenth grade. She finished her last year of high school while she was finishing her first year of college at the University of Denver. Rice flourished in her academics. In 1974, at the age of nineteen, she graduated from the University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree. When she was 21 she earned her master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, and when she was 27 she earned her PH.D from the University of Denver. After college Condoleezza became a professor at Stanford where she won the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. In 1993 she became the first woman and first African-American to be appointed Provost of Stanford

From 2004 to 2007 she was named one of the World’s Most Influential People by Times Magazine. Condoleezza also continues to impress people with her musical abilities. On July 28, 2010 she played the piano to help raise money for charity with the “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A few years later on August 20, 2012 she, along with Darla Moore, became the first women to become a member of the Augusta National Golf Club. This event was a huge step for women. The club had opened in 1933 and had been known for never adding women to their