In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, 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 gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq came up to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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