In the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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