Local student gets nomination to West Point
By ANGELINA DICKSON (Special to The Review)Article Photos
CHESTER - Dean Marcus Porter, son of Mitch and Amy Porter of Chester, has received a nomination to the United States Military Academy at West Point from U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Porter is a senior at Oak Glen High School. He is a member of the National Honor Society, president of Student Council, a Key Club member, a three-year letterman in baseball, and a one-year letterman in football.
Porter says he is excited about getting the nomination and hopes to be accepted. He stated that he has an interest in engineering and says the Military Academy at West Point has a great program.
He feels the programs and activities he is involved in at school now will help build leadership skills and better prepare him for the future.
"I wanted to go into the military no matter what, but my first choice was the Air Force," he said. "I attended an Air Force program in Wheeling and didn't really like the presentation."
He was told about a local retired general who attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who spoke with him and helped get him intrigued.
Later, he attended a presentation in Morgantown about the Academy.
"There were people from all over the state and the presentation focused on each of us and I felt really good about it," said Porter.
He wrote to both of West Virginia's U.S. senators, and it was Rockefeller who responded.
"I wasn't singling anyone out in particular and Rockefeller was just the first to respond," Porter said.
He has also been nominated to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence in Washington, D.C. in February.
