In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion 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 ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria 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. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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