In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have 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 forever grateful.
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