During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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