During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The Iraqi student approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. 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 no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the courage or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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