During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, 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 paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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