“UoPeople Fits the Life I Actually Have,” Says Michael V., a Business Administration Student

Michael V. lives in Nassau County, New York, where he is raising his three children while pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at University of the People. His journey has been shaped by adversity, career setbacks, and the determination to rebuild his life with purpose.

Michael’s early years were marked by significant hardship. He grew up in an unstable household and, as a teenager, became involved in dangerous situations. Eventually, he found a way to move forward, but the experiences he faced created lasting barriers to some career opportunities. They also taught him resilience, resourcefulness, and what it means to rebuild from a difficult starting point.

For more than 28 years, Michael worked across business development, sales, real estate, recruitment, and training. His professional experience gave him a strong foundation in working with people, developing opportunities, and building businesses. However, managing ADHD and recovering from a later brain injury made sustained employment increasingly difficult. Periods of job loss and challenges with executive functioning created recurring obstacles in his professional life.

Rather than allowing those experiences to define his future, Michael began looking for ways to turn them into something meaningful.

Today, he is self-employed and building The Authentic Life Approach, a coaching practice and methodology focused on supporting neurodivergent adults. Drawing on his own experiences, he is developing practical frameworks and structured tools to help people improve focus, build habits, identify meaningful goals, and navigate challenges that he has experienced himself.

“I am channeling those same experiences into purpose,” Michael says.

His work combines coaching, educational content, digital tools, and community-building initiatives. He hopes to expand his neurodiversity-focused coaching and educational support throughout the New York area while continuing to write and create resources that can help others navigate difficult periods in their lives.

For Michael, choosing UoPeople was a practical decision rooted in the realities of his life.

“I selected UoPeople for three practical reasons: the fully asynchronous format works with ADHD and ongoing recovery from a brain injury, the tuition-free model removed a real financial barrier, and the curriculum,” he explains.

The flexibility of UoPeople’s online learning model has allowed Michael to organize his studies around his family, coaching work, and other responsibilities.

“It is the first program that fits the life I actually have instead of the life traditional universities assume,” he says. “The structure actually works with the way my brain and life operate instead of against them.”

Rather than having to choose between his education and the other priorities in his life, Michael can work through his courses while continuing to build his coaching practice and spend time with his children.

“I can move through courses around coaching work, healing, and family without constantly falling behind or burning out,” he says. “That freedom has made the difference between starting and actually continuing.”

Michael sees his Business Administration degree as a practical tool for strengthening the work he is already building. His first goal is to give his business a stronger academic and business foundation.

“A completed business degree gives me a solid foundation to better connect with my clients, organizations, or potential partners who want to see practical business understanding alongside real-world experience,” he says.

He also sees completing his degree as an important milestone in his longer professional journey. For someone who has experienced career instability and challenges with executive functioning, staying committed to a rigorous academic program represents both personal and professional growth.

“Completing the BSBA removes a barrier and shows I can finish a rigorous program while managing the challenges I have faced,” he explains.

Most importantly, Michael believes the degree represents consistency and follow-through—qualities that are central to the work he hopes to do with others.

“For someone who has dealt with so many challenges, finishing this degree is itself evidence that I can sustain long-term effort when the structure fits,” he says.

Outside of his studies, Michael continues creating digital resources, writing, and building tools designed to help neurodivergent adults turn challenges into practical strategies for moving forward.

For Michael, the degree is not the destination. It is one part of a larger effort to build a meaningful career from his experiences and use what he has learned to support others.

His journey reflects the power of rebuilding with intention—turning setbacks into insight, experience into purpose, and education into a tool for creating a future on his own terms.