In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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