During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the UWS called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me 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 explained to my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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