In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the institution – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but right away informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the confidence or nerve to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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