In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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