This article recounts the lived experience of a Rwandan English teacher’s journey from his village to international opportunities for scholarship and work, enabled by his agency in navigating the country’s changing linguistic landscape. Using the narrative inquiry research method, the study uncovers an insider’s perspective on Rwanda’s switch from French to English-medium education and offers a unique participant-centred contribution to research on language-in-education policy. The respondent’s story is interpreted through the intersecting conceptual themes of linguistic imperialism and cosmopolitanism, which emerge from the narrative. The decolonisation of English-medium education is envisioned through supportive, multilingual pedagogies and a rooted cosmopolitanism.