BY PAUL FROMMELT, NGA OFFICE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
6/16/2015
Page Content National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Sue Gordon delivered the
commencement address to the Briar Woods High School class of 2015
during the Loudoun County school’s graduation ceremony Tuesday in
Fairfax, Virginia.
In
front of a receptive crowd of graduates and their families at the
Patriot Center at George Mason University, Gordon imparted wisdom gained
from 35 years as a professional in the U.S. intelligence community. “I’ve
helped keep America safe for democracy. I’ve travelled hundreds of
thousands of miles around the world and met people so different and yet
so the same,” she said. “I’ve built things that were more unbelievable
than the stuff in sci-fi movies. I’ve led women and men to achieve great
heights and I have personally failed in ways that still make me cringe…“With
some hard-won wisdom under my belt, let me offer you some thoughts that
I hope you will find useful as you chart your course.”Gordon told the graduates to be patient, confront challenges, and learn to make decisions. “This
is the most vital of all skills,” said Gordon of the ability to make a
decision. “Decisions impel progress. Inertia should not be the dominant
force in determining your path. Practice it. Get good at it. You will
make some wrong moves, but if every mistake you make is an original
mistake, you will find your way.”Briar
Woods High School, which opened in 2005, is 35 miles from the NGA’s
headquarters in Springfield, Virginia. The school has been ranked as one
of the best high schools in Virginia and the nation by Newsweek
Magazine and the Washington Post Challenge for six years in a row. Gordon,
who became the agency’s deputy director in January 2015, finished her
address by connecting NGA’s motto, “Know the Earth… Show the Way…
Understand the World,” with the lessons that she’s learned – namely to
be grounded, generous and aware. “What
you will do, every day, makes a difference,” she said. “Live that
way. Now, go forth and do good! I can’t wait to see where you take us.”Click here to read Sue Gordon’s full commencement address.
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