During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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