During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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