In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received 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 selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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