In the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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