During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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