During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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