During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that role at the university 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 kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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