During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I explained 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 electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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