In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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