About Me
My name is Jacob Preston, and I am a recent graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell! I've always been fascinated by how the natural world works and all the things that live in it, and as a result, I spent most of my formative years exploring the outdoors with the Boy Scouts of America, from which I graduated as an Eagle Scout.
During this time, I found my love of music playing trumpet and guitar for my high school band, which are hobbies I maintain to this day, as well as my love of people. I was a shy kid growing
During this time, I found my love of music playing trumpet and guitar for my high school band, which are hobbies I maintain to this day, as well as my love of people. I was a shy kid growing up, but was lucky enough to have a close-knit group of friends to push me out of my comfort zone, which has since led me to many great opportunities in tech-sales, education, and many other fields.
As I became older, what first began as a fondness for videogames with friends soon became a fascination with computing itself, leading me to pursue any clubs and activities that involved it. Going into college, the world was at the dawn of a new era of machine-learning, and it seemed like everywhere I looked, people were finding strange and fascinating ways to understand and emulate the natural world with it, and I wanted to join them.
Unfortunately, my prospects began with a rocky start due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, with the remainder of my high school senior year and the entirety of my college freshman year taking place virtually. This period is now commonly recognized as a very reflective and introspective period in most peoples lives, riddled with isolation and hardship, and it was during this time that I became engrossed with the nature of information, intelligence, and their necessary yet elusive connection to the natural world.
Throughout my college career I explored these concepts both formally and recreationally, and while my degree pathway was not necessarily geared solely towards machine-learning, I made sure to arm myself with the wide variety of tools necessary for understanding and implementing it. In fact, I pride myself in the diversity of skills and knowledge I've been lucky enough to acquire in my time, as I believe the exploration and overlapping of concepts from all fields is the very force that drives innovation in any setting.
Now that I have graduated with my degree, and as all people eventually do, I find myself looking for ways to make a living doing what I love. Luckily for me, I love just about everything that involves people and/or technology, and while starting a career in the field of Artificial Intelligence is my current priority, all fields overlap eventually, and I am open to any opportunities that might cross my path!
A photo of some friends and I at the King Richard's renaissance fair, where I dressed up as the, 'Setup Wizard'!
Me after getting demolished in a Brawlhalla tournament at PAX-East
A great view of the historical Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse