In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him 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 electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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