In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a city where opportunities abound – she declared: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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