During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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