During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the institution – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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