During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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