In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing 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 walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. And, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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