During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared 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 the institution – close to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him 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 elite institution and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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