During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
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, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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