During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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