During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at Columbia University. He inquired what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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