During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq 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 gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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