In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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