During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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