During the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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