During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He inquired what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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