In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – right next door 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, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. 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. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. One of the benefits was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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