During the late 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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