In the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed 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.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to 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 taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a place where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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