During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student walked over to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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