In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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