During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, 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 informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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