In the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but immediately told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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