In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Since my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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