During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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