During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. Additionally, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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