In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and told 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 attended the interview – but right away informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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