During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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