In the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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