During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Because my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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