In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared 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 research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete 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 multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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