During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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