In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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