During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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