Rice shares future plans

2008-07-25 09:35

Perth - Condoleezza Rice on Friday ruled out running for office when her time ends as US Secretary of State, saying she was looking forward to shopping, music and the academic life.

Rice gave insight into her future plans while addressing a girl's school in Australia, during an informal visit at the invitation of Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

She said campaigning for political office did not appeal to her when asked by one of the 400 students, wearing green blazers and skirts gathered in the school gym, whether she would ever run for president.

"The major hurdle to overcome is I've never run for anything," she said. "I never ran for head girl... it's not quite for me."

Rice said one of the strengths of the US democratic system was that it allowed people from different walks of life to contribute to public life for a set period of time and then resume their careers.

A political science professor before working for the Bush administration, Rice said she remained an academic at heart.

"Deep in my soul, deep in my being, I am an academic. I love the world of ideas, I love writing, I love teaching," she said.

Rice revealed she regularly rises at 04:30 for exercise and briefings and said she was looking forward to having time for more regular pursuits after leaving office.

'You've got a great life ahead of you'

"I'm looking forward to getting back to shopping," she said, nominating a mall near Stanford University in California as her favourite.

"It's a great past-time shopping. Even if I don't buy anything, I go in the stores and look."

An accomplished classical pianist, she also anticipated attending chamber music camps "in beautiful mountain surroundings".

"If I can get to the mountains and play Brahms, that's probably my favourite vacation," she said.

Rice also urged the schoolgirls, among them Smith's 14-year-old daughter Madeleine, to find their passion and pursue it.

"You've got a great life ahead of you. Just don't let anybody put limits on it just because you are a woman or because you are (from) some ethnic group," she said to resounding applause.

Rice said she studied hard at piano when she was young but had a revelation at university: "I was pretty good, but I wasn't great."

Rather than accept that she would wind up playing in a piano bar rather than Carnegie Hall, Rice said, she channelled her energies elsewhere and eventually ended up studying the Soviet Union.

"The first time I heard the Russian language, it was like a following in life," she said.

While it was unusual for a black American woman to study Russian, Rice said, she did not allow race or gender to limit her choices.

"Don't let anybody define for you what you should be interested in," she told the schoolgirls.

- AFP