In the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my companion was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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