In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my friend was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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