Content creator Apoorva Makhija, better known as The Rebel Kid, who got into controversy of India's Got Latent has traded the familiarity of her life in India for a student dorm in Manhattan, despite admitting that the MBA she is about to pursue may not directly help her career.
For Makhija, the move to New York is less about adding another qualification to her resume and more about deliberately stepping outside the world she has built for herself.
In a recent conversation on Untriggered with AminJaz, Makhija explained that she had always wanted to live in New York. She said the city's pace, architecture, food and the version of New York she had repeatedly seen in web series made her want to experience it for herself.
So she applied to just one college.
“I only wanted to live in New York,” she said, explaining that her thinking was essentially: if she got in, she would go. She did.
Now, she is starting over as a student in Manhattan.
Why leave a life that was already working?
Makhija acknowledged that she is giving up considerable comfort to make the move.
She said she has a strong circle of friends, a home, full-time domestic help, a successful career and financial independence in India. She also pointed out that she is well known and has access to opportunities.
Yet she chose to leave all of that behind to live in a dorm and study in a city where she does not know many people.
That contradiction is at the heart of her decision.
Makhija said her main motivation is to meet people outside the creator economy. Her social circle, she admitted, has increasingly become connected to her work, and she feels that has narrowed the way she thinks.
“I want to meet new people,” she said, adding that in Mumbai she largely meets new creators through her job.
She wants to meet people who have little interest in the influencer world, people who might challenge her assumptions and expose her to completely different experiences.
“My thinking has become very limited,” she admitted, saying she has not “touched grass” in a long time.
For a creator whose career has been built around being constantly online, the decision is striking: Makhija is effectively choosing an offline environment to expand her world.
‘This degree that I am going to do is of no use’
Makhija is also unusually candid about what the MBA means to her.
She does not see the degree as a straightforward route to employment.
“I never want to do a 9-5,” she said. “I can start a business today if I want to.”
That is why she questioned the practical value of getting an MBA in the first place.
“This degree that I am going to do, is of no use,” she said.
But that does not mean she has little interest in learning.
Makhija has a B.Tech in Computer Science and said she performed strongly academically, citing a 10 GPA in Class 10, 95.4% in Class 12 and an 8.4 GPA in college.
“I don’t mind studying,” she said. “I have always been good at studying.”
What she wants from the experience is different: she wants to learn while also having the college experience she feels she missed.
The college experience she believes she missed
Makhija revealed that she spent her entire college life in a relationship after meeting her boyfriend on the first day of college.
Looking back, she believes she missed out on the broader experience of being a student.
“I really f***** it up,” she said. “Now, I want to have a good college life.”
Her move to New York therefore has another layer beyond education or business.
She is giving herself an opportunity to experience a version of student life she believes she never had, meeting new people, building friendships and navigating a new environment without the social identity she already has in India.
She wants to become better at business
There is, however, a practical reason behind the MBA.
Makhija recalled trying to build a beauty and personal-care brand and approaching experienced investors and business figures. She said some were prepared to invest, take care of operations and help build the business.
But while working on the idea, she realized how much she did not know.
She understood marketing and branding, she said, but lacked knowledge of areas such as supply chains and operations.
That experience made her want to become more knowledgeable rather than simply rely on others to fill those gaps.
“I want to get smarter,” she said.
The MBA, in that sense, is less about preparing for a corporate career and more about filling the gaps between being a successful creator and becoming someone capable of running a business.
‘I want to force myself to learn’
Makhija also said she has felt stuck with the mindset she had when she was 21.
She admitted that even her father still manages her finances, something she described as frustrating because she believes she should be capable of learning those skills herself.
Her answer is to deliberately put herself in an unfamiliar environment.
“I am going to force myself to get a degree that teaches me all of this,” she said, explaining that she will also be surrounded by people who have worked in different fields and may want to build businesses of their own.
And if the MBA does not transform her career, she still sees another benefit.
“If nothing else, I get to live in New York.”
Will The Rebel Kid continue creating content?
Makhija's move could also mark a change in her relationship with content creation.
She said she has not been particularly motivated to film her life for some time. Even while travelling, she often does not feel like taking out her camera.
According to Makhija, she sometimes creates content because her manager asks her to or because a brand deal requires it, rather than because she genuinely wants to document the experience.
That raises an interesting question about what happens when one of India's recognizable young creators enters an environment where she is no longer simply “The Rebel Kid” but another student in a city filled with people who may have no idea who she is.
For Makhija, that anonymity may be part of the appeal.
From viral fame to starting again
Makhija's decision comes after a period in which her public profile grew significantly, but also brought intense scrutiny.
She faced major online backlash following her appearance on India's Got Latent in February 2025 alongside Samay Raina and Ranveer Allahbadia. The controversy surrounding the show resulted in police complaints and FIRs against the panelists, while Makhija faced severe online trolling.
She was later seen on Netflix's Lock Upp.
Now, rather than building on that visibility alone, she appears to be taking a step sideways and perhaps backwards into student life.
The irony is that Makhija is going to college not because she needs a degree to get a job, but because she feels she needs to learn, meet people outside her bubble and become more independent.
For someone who says she can already start a business, the bigger challenge may not be getting an MBA.
It may be figuring out what happens when she steps outside the world where she already knows how to succeed.
