In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my companion was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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