In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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