In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
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 for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. 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 paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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