During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a companion. Because my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or nerve to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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