In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at Columbia University. He inquired what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned 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 ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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