In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the courage or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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