During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away explained to my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or nerve to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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