Carolinas' young multi-talented achiever CJ

 

Christopher 'CJ' Helms Jr. showing off one of his certifications

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Rockingham, North Carolina--Christopher Helms Jr. or CJ/Chris Jr. to his family, friends and classmates will graduate summa cum laude on Friday this week (May 14) at the University of North Carolina Charlotte ( UNCC).

CJ is graduating with a Business Administration degree majoring in both Information System/Technology and Operation Supply Chain Management—the second or latter major in which he secured his summa cum laude ranking. He is the eldest son of Jean Helms—Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas (FACC) area representative and her husband Christopher Helms Sr. (Chris), both residents of Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina.  

‘As parents we are so proud of him and we are so excited (for his graduation),’ the proud parents told me in a text message. Jean comes from the Ganila family in Guimaras province in Western Visayas of the Philippines while Chris is a native of North Carolina.

CJ with his parents at the track field. 

CJ is a young achiever who loves Filipino food especially adobo (Filipino meat stew) and dinuguan (Filipino pork blood stew) and he studied at Central Piedmont Community College from 2017-2019, graduating magna cum laude with an associate degree.

While at CPCC, CJ was in the President’s list two years in a row. During summers, he enrolled in additional classes to speed up his graduation while playing football, baseball snd basketball.  

Academics, athletics excellence 

CJ was born in Charlotte and attended pre-school and kindergarten in Charlotte. He studied grade school to high school at Mt. Pleasant, NC when the family moved there.  CJ was the ‘Writer of the Month’ several times throughout grade school and graduated with an AB Honors Certificate. He started playing sports at six years old.

In middle school, CJ was a straight A student and recipient of academic and sports medals. It was learned that on 7th grade, CJ won the Cabarrus Court of Champions in wrestling competitions and ranked second during his eighth grade.

While in high school, CJ was a member of HOSA-Future Health Professionals formerly known as Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) since he wanted to pursue medicine. He was unable to but he did become HOSA vice president for two years and represented his school thrice as state finalist on the HOSA State Bio Medical and Forensic Analysis events.

As an athlete, CJ was a four-time wrestling conference champion, a four-year letterman honoree in track and field and a two-time conference varsity champion.  In football, CJ was Rocky River Conference PP Champion and voted by all coaches to win the All Star Rocky River, All Conference Cente title as well as a Tate Neighbor Award.

Bright future

CJ’s mom Jean Helms said he is an obedient son. ‘I always talk to him and tell him to stay away from bad people. I remind him frequently about the saying ‘tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are,’ she said.

It’s not a surprise then that the young graduate can cook too since his mother is a good cook. CJ worked at 16 years of age while studying. His first job was at KFC, then at Taco Bell as part time associate. He’s still working as a clerk at QT (Quick Trip).

At home he helps with the laundry and household chores like yard work and cleans his room. Best of all, CJ is a big brother to Brad Lee, helping him in his homework and fetching him at the school bus.

CJ loves working out at the local gym. As if that’s not enough he also plays the guitar and piano. Armed with a degree and two majors, it won’t be farfetched for CJ to become an entrepreneur or a big name in the corporate world.