During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight 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 took advantage to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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