In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Since my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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