During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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