During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. 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. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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