“UoPeople Made an International Education Possible for Me,” Says Camilia Rocha J., Computer Science Student

At 21, Camilia Rocha J. is already thinking beyond the boundaries of a single field. A bachelor’s degree student in Computer Science at the University of the People, she is passionate about bioinformatics and genetics and hopes to one day work at the intersection of Computer Science, biomedical engineering, and health research. For Camilia, technology is a tool for solving real-world problems and improving people’s quality of life.

Born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia, Camilia describes herself as naturally curious from a young age. She was always eager to understand how and why things worked and often went beyond what was required in school. Chemistry was the first subject that truly sparked her love of science.

“I began to see its applications everywhere,” she says. “I remember thinking that there was chemistry behind almost everything around us.”

Although she did not always have access to the same educational resources and opportunities available in international environments, Camilia learned to supplement her education independently. Her curiosity was also closely connected to her faith. As she learned more about the complexity and beauty of the world around her, she became even more interested in understanding how things work.

“My faith and my curiosity have never felt like separate things to me,” she says. “In many ways, my faith has motivated me to keep learning and asking questions.”

Her family has also played an important role in shaping her approach to education. Her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and brother have supported her, while her mother has been her greatest inspiration. Camilia says her mother has worked hard to support the family and care for her children and grandparents while also encouraging her to take her education seriously.

Camilia is the first person in her family to attend an international university. However, reaching that opportunity was not easy. Her family has limited financial resources and significant responsibilities. There have been times when Camilia wondered whether she might eventually need to put her education aside and work to help support her family financially. That possibility made finding an accessible international university especially important to her.

“UoPeople has made it possible for me to pursue a degree that I otherwise might not have been able to afford on my own,” she says.

Camilia first heard about UoPeople through social media. At the time, she was actively looking for international university opportunities. The ability to study online and organize her education around her circumstances immediately caught her attention. Affordability was equally important. A traditional international university was not financially realistic for her and her family, and she did not want to give up on her goal of receiving an international education.

“It was not simply about finding an inexpensive university,” she explains. “It was about finding a university that could fit my circumstances without forcing me to give up my educational goals.”

Now in her fourth term of the Computer Science program, Camilia appreciates the combination of flexibility and academic engagement in her UoPeople experience. She particularly values the different elements of the university’s learning model, including webinars, instructor and classmate interaction, discussions, assignments, and peer learning.

She also enjoys learning alongside people from different countries. Hearing different perspectives and seeing how classmates approach problems has broadened the way she thinks and given her a more international outlook.

Camilia describes her UoPeople experience in three words: “flexibility, quality, and empathy.”

Her Computer Science studies are closely connected to her long-term ambitions. Camilia hopes to establish her own bioinformatics laboratory to conduct research and contribute to better health outcomes. She also plans to pursue a master’s degree and continue developing her research skills.

But her ambitions extend beyond her own career. Camilia dreams of creating an educational center where she can help others access opportunities similar to those UoPeople has given her.

“I would love to work internationally and learn from people and institutions around the world, but I also want that experience to contribute to the development of my country,” she says. “I do not want international opportunities to mean leaving Bolivia behind. I want to use what I learn to create opportunities for others in Bolivia.”

Outside of her studies, Camilia has a wide range of interests, including reading Scripture and scientific papers and crocheting. She enjoys Christian music and singing and serves at her church.

Her curiosity extends into everyday life. She is fascinated by automation and often finds herself thinking about how technology could make routine tasks easier or more efficient.

Balancing her many interests, responsibilities, and studies is not always easy, but Camilia has learned to prioritize what needs her attention most at any given moment. For her, studying at UoPeople has become more than a way to earn a degree. It has shown her that financial circumstances and limited access to traditional educational opportunities do not have to determine the size of her ambitions.

“It has been a way of proving to myself that my circumstances do not determine how far I can go,” she says.

One day, she hopes to give others the same sense of possibility that she has found through her own education: the belief that something that once seemed impossible can become possible.