During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but right away told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. 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 also received free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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