During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion 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 straight off informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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