During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, 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 missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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