During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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