During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, 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 the institution – right next door to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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