During the late 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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