In the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, 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 gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe 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 benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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