In the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large 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, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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