During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure 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 fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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