During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student approached 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 right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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