During the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Since my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the 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 dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or nerve to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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