Campfire #51 Overview: How To Build A Coding Career
Last Updated: March 16th 2023
The inspiring story of how learning to code saved Nucamp Instructor Chris Helm’s life
Nucamp Instructor and Scrum Master Chris Helm joined Nucamp’s CEO Ludo Fourrage for episode #51 of Campfire.
Chris is a national championship wrestler and Marine Veteran who served two tours in Iraq.
His impressive wrestling career earned him a college scholarship.
Unfortunately, he realized only one semester in that he HATED it.
Chris found a military recruiter and asked how soon he could leave.
9 days later, Chris left school to join the United States Marine Corps.
After leaving the military is when Chris’ career come-up story begins.
In 2019 he had the realization he needed more money to support his family.
Chris was living in his in-law’s basement while working unfulfilling jobs just trying to make ends meet.
So, Chris narrowed his focus to finding a job that 1. he enjoyed and 2. he could do the rest of his life without taking a toll on his body.
Eventually, it hit him.
Chis had always been interested in how computers work after tinkering with his family’s E-Machine growing up.
He called his wife to say he was going all in on tech.
“I always was interested in computers and always knew I was capable of so much more. After being fed up and sick and tired of the results I was getting, I knew something had to change. Tech saved my life.”
Chris’ next move was ordering a book on data structures and Python and a used laptop for $75.
After hitting wall teaching himself to code, he turned to registering for a coding bootcamp.
The rest is history.
Chris is now living the dream he subconsciously always wanted, but at the time didn’t know what that dream was.
Today he is a Scrum Master at World Shipping and a highly rated (4.9/5) Nucamp Instructor.
Chris prides himself on his focus to take complicated topics and translating them into easily understood bites for his students.
He strives to impact the world and help those following in his footsteps.
“If you can visualize yourself being a software engineer, that’s the universe telling you can do it.”
With determination and lots of sweat equity, Chris created and stuck to his plan to break into a coding career no matter how daunting it got along the way.
Chris started off broke, living with his in-laws; he took a bet on himself and changed his family’s life forever.
Watch the full video:
Samantha Anderson
Marketing Manager
Part Illustrator, part Graphic Designer, and part Digital Marketer—with a sprinkle of sales savvy and a dash of empathy. I'm all about using my creativity to craft captivating stories through both illustration and writing. When I'm not at my computer, you'll find me drawing nature inspired patterns and portraits on my other favorite screen: my iPad. To keep myself inspired (and to get away from my slight tech addiction) I garden, golf, and go on nature walks with my dog and cat leading the way.