During the late 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was exploring starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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