In the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting 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 told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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