In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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