During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the confidence or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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