During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big ten-floor structure on the UWS named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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