In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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