In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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