During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Since my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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