During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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