During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly 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 a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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