During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, 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 Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York 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 conducting research using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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