Wood County student at Naval Academy conference

PARKERSBURG -- A student from Wood County attended a leadership conference through Marietta College last month at a United States Military academy.

Jon White of Davisville, a political science major at MC, on Jan. 21-24 attended the 2024 Naval Academy Leadership Conference at Annapolis, Md.

White is a graduate of Parkland High School.

The Naval Academy's Center for Experiential Leadership Development hosts the annual event. This year's featured presenters included representatives from Naval Academies of 15 allied nations, including Ukraine.

White, class of 2026, was among four MC students who attended the conference. The others were Gabe Tingle of West Lafayette, Ohio, Ronnie Hess of Fredericktown, Ohio, and Gezahagn Alameraw of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Also attending were Brittanie Clair, Office of Student Life area coordinator, and Jason Nulton, McDonough Community Engagement coordinator.

The conference was titled "Learning to Lead: The Lifelong Pursuit of Service."

"I'm starting the Global Leadership section this semester, so I can't wait to bring my experiences that I've had here back to my class at Marietta," Tingle, an accounting major, said. "I've met people from Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and Poland, and also people from all over the country. I tried to connect with them to share my culture and learn some of theirs, and also engage with them about the leadership practices we were hearing at the conference."

The Naval Academy's Center for Experiential Leadership Development hosts the event. Nulton said ROTC units and civilian programs like McDonough also typically attend.

"We had a number of great speakers and panelists, including Lt. Brad Snyder, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who was blinded in Afghanistan by an IED and ended up competing as a swimmer in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Paralympics, racking up six gold and two silver medals," Nulton said.