During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen 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. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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