During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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