About Me
Growing up in the South
My name — again — is Preston Fore. I was born and raised in Chattanooga, the fourth largest city in Tennessee.
I attended Central High School and graduated as class valedictorian in 2019. My high school principal can be seen with me on the left, on his last day before he retired to become a Delta flight attendant.
As a freshman I was extremely shy and introverted, but I decided to put my foot out and join my high school’s newspaper, The Central Digest. At the start, I hated it; I despised talking to people I did not know. However, I stuck with it and eventually became its editor-in-chief as a junior and senior; I’ve since never turned back. I credit the countless opportunities of Central High to who I am and leading me to UNC. I remain involved with my school’s alumni association.
(Below) The Chattanooga riverfront can be seen with the Walnut Street bridge on the left and the Tennessee Aquarium on the right.
In 2019, I had the privilege of attending the School of the New York Times, a 2-week summer program in New York City. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that allowed me to enhance my reporting skills, learning straight from industry experts. I was able to get out of my comfort zone and preform on-the-street-interviews about NYC events. We were also able to tour newsrooms around the city including the New York Times, Associated Press and New York 1.
(Right) Me, after touring the New York Times building in Manhattan.
I applied to dozens of colleges, but UNC ended up being the school for me. Being an out-of-state student, I knew hardly no-one starting out, but I am thankful to have found my niche. I am now majoring in journalism and global studies with a minor in history. I am an active member of the Carolina International Relations Association, fueling my love for Model United Nations, which I first participated in in middle school.
Additionally, I was able to join The Daily Tar Heel, starting as a staff writer for the university desk. I have been able to write about and interview plethora of subjects, including a celebrity fitness trainer, a future astronaut, and the deputy director of NASA. Now, as a senior writer, I report on more in-depth issues on the university finance beat.
Collectively, it’s been a learning process, but my love for journalism has grown. My dream is to one day work at CNN or other world-renowned news agency and report on international affairs.
(Left) My first semester, I was able to meet one of my role models, Brooke Baldwin, a UNC alum and former CNN anchor.
In September 2021, I had the privilege of being able to embark on my first international adventure by studying abroad at King’s College London.
The culture shock of trying to do everything at once, such as navigating a new city, trying to make new friends and start classes definitely took me by surprise at first. This was especially exacerbated for everyone after many months of pandemic restrictions.
In the first week, I began to have regrets and even questioned if I was cut out for living thousands of miles from home. However, those thoughts were quickly dissolved after adapting to the newfound independence and realizing I was among others in the same situation.
It was a big learning process for me, but I was determined to come out on the other side with a new international mindset as well as collective appreciation for differing viewpoints and cultures.
(Right) Here I am in front of Oxford University’s Radcliffe Camera on a day-trip to Oxford, England.
Why study abroad once, when you can do it twice?
After falling in love with Europe, I decided to extend my time abroad to Florence, Italy, where I spent my spring 2022 semester studying at Instituto Lorenzo de’ Medici. There, I was able to take course subjects such as palaces of Florence, war and the media and elementary Italian.
Overall, I learned a significant amount about foreign-language speaking cultures and developed a deeper appreciation for different ways of life, especially Italian’s desire to work to live, not live to work.
I also really miss the pasta, wine and trains.
(Left) In Florence, there were countless museums and historical sites that were super interesting and enriching, including the Galleria dell’Academia which houses Michaelangelo’s David.