During the late 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student walked over to 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 made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my interviewer 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 responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, 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 job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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