In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student 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 gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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