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Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has always been insisting that her students wrote with clarity as she was very particular about even memos that must be written clearly.

She said that the question she asked her students when she gets a paper is whether they actually knew where the paper would end up at the beginning or did they just hope for the best groping in the dark.

57 years of age, Rice today teaches political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She was Stanford University’s former provost. A conference on how to prepare college students for today’s workforce was held at the Wake Forest University and Rice was speaking at this conference.

The lecture was held at Wait Chapel where at least 2200 people attended. Rice stressed on the importance of teaching students how to write with clarity and also said that this was the responsibility of colleges and universities. She also said that students must be imparted with basic knowledge in the fields of economics and history and must be taught how to argue effectively.

Rice also said that in today’s tough global economic situation, students must be imparted with the right kind of knowledge to be able to get jobs and be prepared to face the challenges. She pointed out that our system of higher education is definitely the international gold standard which is why elite from other countries like to send their children here.

Between 2001 and 2005, during President George W. Bush’s first term, Rice was the national security adviser. During his second term, between 2005 and 2009, she served as the secretary of state. She holds the distinction of being the first black woman to hold such high posts.

She kept the audience at the conference enthralled with various amusing personal anecdotes and stories about her background and education. At a White House concert, Rice was invited by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, a famous pianist in 1992. She joked that she played with him because she was the national security advisor and not because she was a great pianist.

Value of education was brought home by Rice through her speech said a WFU senior, Chelsea Privette. She also said that she started valuing her own education at Wake Forest inspired by the speech.

In order to help students identify and choose majors they like, she also gave schools another mission. She quoted her own example where she had to change her major thrice at the undergraduate level at the University of Denver.

She also said that a class with a famous professor specializing in Soviet Union helped make her decision firm on majoring in international politics.

Rice said that when she was sitting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife at the White House lawn in 1990, she realized that her choice was perfect. She said that the power of changing history lies in the hands of those who are educated.

Rice exemplified the importance of our higher education and sais that it is very special and it is our duty to pass it on intact to our next generation.