In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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