During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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