In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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