During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was considering pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, returning to the canteen that evening. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told 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 opportunities abound – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity 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 remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met 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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