In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside 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 shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and told 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 went to the meeting – but straight off informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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