During the late 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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