During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off informed 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 responded: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York 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 set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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