During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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