During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my companion was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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