In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
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 recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” 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 took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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