In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met 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 changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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