How UoPeople’s Flexible Online Business Degree Supported My Multidisciplinary Career

From childhood, I have been drawn to questions that go beyond the surface: Why are we here? What shapes human behavior? How do institutions influence the way we live?

Those questions have guided my academic, professional, and creative journey ever since. Born and raised in Rwanda and now based in India, I am pursuing medical studies while also conducting research, managing digital publishing initiatives, and exploring the performing arts.

In June 2026, I graduated from University of the People with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. For me, the degree was never simply about learning business—it was about understanding people, institutions, and the systems that shape our world.

Balancing business studies with final-year medical studies and my other projects has been demanding, but UoPeople’s flexible online learning model gave me the autonomy to pursue these different paths without sacrificing depth.

Why I Chose UoPeople to Study Business Administration

I discovered UoPeople while exploring educational opportunities for my own platform, the Inzira Opportunity Vault, a digital resource that curates scholarships, courses, and grants to help young people from low-resource regions access opportunities that might otherwise be difficult to find.

As I explored the university’s BSBA curriculum, I was surprised by how closely it aligned with the questions I had been asking throughout my life.

Courses covering organizational behavior, business strategy, sociology, and business politics showed me that business administration was about much more than commerce. It could also provide a framework for understanding human behavior, institutions, decision-making, and the systems that shape society.

I applied and began the program with a genuine sense of curiosity. I wasn’t simply looking for another credential. I wanted to understand how organizations and societies function and how that knowledge could be applied to the work I hoped to do.

The transition into the university’s system was straightforward, and the asynchronous learning model gave me the autonomy I needed to manage my other commitments.

Learning to See Business as a Study of People and Systems

One of the things I valued most about the UoPeople curriculum was its multidisciplinary scope. Courses in organizational behavior, business strategy, sociology, and business politics helped me understand organizations, institutions, power, and human behavior from different perspectives.

I began to see business administration not simply as a field concerned with markets and commerce, but as a practical way of understanding human systems. That perspective continues to influence the projects I build and the problems I want to solve.

Turning Business Knowledge Into Platforms for Opportunity

Today, my work is focused largely on independent digital publishing and systems-level advocacy.

I am the founder and host of The Dignity Accord and The Dignity Negotiation Podcast, platforms through which I explore decolonial theory, structural equity, institutional critique, and human dignity.

My business education has given me practical tools to structure and manage these initiatives. Strategic planning, organizational thinking, and an understanding of how systems operate have all become useful in turning ideas into functioning platforms.

In that sense, what I learned at UoPeople continues to shape the work I am building today.

Building a Life Around Multiple Disciplines

Balancing these projects with my medical studies and business degree has required discipline and careful organization.

I have learned to compartmentalize different areas of my work while also recognizing the connections between them. Medicine, business, research, advocacy, and the arts may appear to belong to completely different worlds, but I see them as different ways of exploring the same fundamental questions about human agency, systems, and wellbeing.

My creative work is an important part of that exploration.

Outside academics and research, I study and practice classical opera singing, Butoh performance art, Tanztheater, and pantomime. I am interested in using physical theater as another way to explore structural philosophy and human expression.

Writing is another important outlet. Through analytical essays and independent publishing, I continue to examine the systems and ideas that shape our lives.

What I Would Tell Current and Prospective UoPeople Students

My advice is simple: don’t approach education as an exercise in memorization. Find genuine curiosity in every course.

When you study something, ask yourself how it connects to your own life, your community, and the problems you want to solve. Think beyond grades and consider how a particular subject can help you grow as a person or understand the world more clearly.

For me, that approach made learning deeply meaningful.

UoPeople’s flexibility also allowed me to take ownership of my education. It gave me the structural space to pursue multiple commitments while continuing to make steady progress toward my degree. Be self-driven and use that flexibility to your advantage.

Looking Ahead: Building for a More Inclusive World

Graduating from UoPeople in June 2026 is not the end of my academic journey. It is another foundation for what comes next.

I plan to continue scaling my projects while expanding my independent media and publishing work. I also want to deepen my research at the intersection of systems thinking, decolonial theory, and human dignity advocacy.

At the same time, I hope to bring together my business education with my experience in public health and my interest in complementary and alternative healing systems, including Ayurveda.

My long-term goal is to use these different areas of knowledge to contribute to a more inclusive and peaceful world.

I have never seen my multidisciplinary path as a collection of unrelated pursuits. Each discipline gives me another lens through which to understand people and the systems around them.

UoPeople gave me the structure to pursue that kind of education—and, ultimately, to turn my curiosity into something I could build upon.

About the Author

Fils Jean Pierre M. is a Rwandan national currently based in India. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of the People in June 2026 while pursuing medical studies and working on research, digital publishing, advocacy, and creative projects. He is an entrepreneur, researcher, and digital publishing professional whose work focuses on systems thinking, human dignity, structural equity, and access to educational opportunities. He also hosts conversations exploring these themes and is engaged in independent research, writing, and the performing arts. His work explores systems thinking, human dignity, decolonial theory, structural equity, and access to educational opportunities. He is also engaged in writing, independent research, and the performing arts.