During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Because my friend was interested in starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to 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'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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