During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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