During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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