In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to 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 canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received free tuition 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 name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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