During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. 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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