In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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