During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Since my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city 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 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his identity, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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