During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. 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 am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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