During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a place where opportunities abound – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share 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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