During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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