During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large ten-floor structure on the UWS known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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