During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance 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.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered 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 forever grateful.
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