During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia resulted in a role in Europe where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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