During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a sizeable 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 picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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