In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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