During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” 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 free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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