During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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