During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or nerve to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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