During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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