In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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