During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately told my interviewer 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. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have 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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