During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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