During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my friend was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for three years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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