During the late 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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