In the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Because my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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