Not sure what to learn next? Get inspired by other Codecademy learners who’ve been in your shoes. We’re sharing stories from the Codecademy community to show how people figured out which skills mattered for their role and goals — and started using them in meaningful ways. We hope these stories serve as a reminder that there’s no single path to a more fulfilling work life.
Today’s learner story is from Bri Campbell, a 31-year-old Senior Graphic Designer at a nonprofit, living in upstate New York. Read more stories from Codecademy learners here — and be sure to share your story here.
What I do for work
“My full-time job is graphic design and marketing at a nonprofit that works with manufacturers in New York State. We help small businesses that are manufacturing and technology related grow and develop their businesses. I went to a four-year college for graphic design, and I’ve been doing that since graduation.”
“During my apprenticeship, I was taught how to write little bits of code here and there. I started with a baseline of some HTML and some CSS — enough to do a little bit with. I’ll do updates on a WordPress site that has WP Bakery, Elementor, and drag-and-drop builders. If I had to go in and custom adjust something slightly, I could figure it out or MacGyver behind the scenes into something that looks appropriate.”
Where I was when I started
“I went through college thinking I was an agency designer; I wanted to have clients in different industries and do something different every single day. I’m not somebody that can do the same thing every day.”
“At 30, I was diagnosed with ADHD, very late in life. That explained a lot of the needing for uniqueness, diversity, and movement. I’ve lived a life of masking and developing strategies around why my brain didn’t work like everybody else’s, not realizing there was a reason. The strategies stopped working, to be honest — and that’s what made me pursue a diagnosis.”
“I had my first child in 2022, had my second in 2024, and I got to a point where I was like, I have a full-time job, kids, dogs, and a house to run. I can’t juggle all of these anymore. I used to be able to juggle these.”
What made me want to go deeper
“With my ADHD, it’s a blessing and a curse that I always have this desire to learn something new. It’s great because you can hyperfocus sometimes, and then when the hyperfocus is gone, it’s gone. But this has just been different — I’m really enjoying learning to code to the point where I’m like, when I’m done with this, what do I do next?”
Why it matters for my role
“I don’t feel confident right now to sell myself as a Web Designer. I have a little bit of knowledge — I could use a drag-and-drop builder, it would look fine, but I’m not a Web Developer. If we can keep more of those projects in-house, then we can retain more of that revenue, and then we can turn around and do better for the companies we’re working for.”
“There are so many avenues where even data science can come into play. Cybersecurity is a huge one for manufacturers, especially in the DoD [Department of Defense] realm. There are so many other places I can jump from this front-end engineer program once I’m done.”
“The HR consultant we work with has been encouraging staff to do SMART goals. We need to set three. Right now, I’m in a DISC sales program, I’m running a marketing course this summer, and then my third one is Codecademy.”
You don’t have to become a Web Developer to be able to work well across platforms. Just a base knowledge so that the workflow between two people can be smoother is great.
Bri Campbell, Graphic Designer
Finding a way to learn that works
“I took a look at the catalog first, and I did the quiz too. The Front-End Engineer career path one made the most sense to me because it felt like a full, encompassing education. I was like, might as well go big and do this.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily call Codecademy self-teaching. Even though I’m not speaking with an instructor directly, it’s not me sitting down at YouTube trying to retain somebody else talking to me. That’s never worked for me, not even in a classroom setting. Looking back, there was a reason I couldn’t retain information as well as the other students.”
“Codecademy is active, hands-on learning — I’m reading, I’m writing down my notes because writing tends to be the best way for me to retain, I’m doing the practice, I’m seeing it work, and then I’m moving on. It’s very quick, so that works for my attention span. I love the post-lesson quizzes — 7 to 9 questions, not a slog, but enough for reinforcement. I also downloaded the app so I can keep practicing when I’m running an errand with my kids or waiting for the doctor.”
“It has been the best post-traditional school learning experience I’ve had trying to learn something new in a professional development capacity.”
My advice: Embrace the suck
“I’ve just enjoyed it so much. It hasn’t felt like work to me. It’s about finding what part of coding brings you enjoyment.”
“I think just approaching things with enthusiasm and acceptance that you need to be bad to be good. It takes time. I’ll even credit my children for putting me in that mindset — they start with no knowledge. You could be starting at zero, not even one, and being okay with that.”
“Perfection is the goal, and as an adult, trying new things you often feel like you already should be good at this. I have a difficult time with being not good at things the first time around. But embracing the suck is a really great way to start. It can be fun to be bad, and then even more fun to see how good you get.”
