During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a big ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the courage or nerve to approach someone at an elite institution and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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