During the late 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. 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 complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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