In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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