In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was exploring starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen 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 made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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