In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had just graduated 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 why he was aware of it. He suggested that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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