During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the UWS called International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – close 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, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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