In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but right away explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. 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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