In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student approached 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 taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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