During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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