In the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position 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.
The following day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an elite institution and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered 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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