In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, 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, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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