During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student walked over to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the bravery or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university led me to 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 benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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