During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted 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 identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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