During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay 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 headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich 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 set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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