During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the UWS named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know 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 right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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