In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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