During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I explained 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 electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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