In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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