During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He pointed out 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 suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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