In the late 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Because my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a big ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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