During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped 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 job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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