During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Since my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq 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. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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