In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big ten-floor structure on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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