During the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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