In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Since my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I explained that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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