In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq approached 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 made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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