During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I explained 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 institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to 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 gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the bravery or nerve to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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