In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my friend was interested in 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 sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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