During the late 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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