During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and told me 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 attended the interview – but right away informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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