In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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