In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off told my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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