During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me 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 using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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