In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close 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, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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