During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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