During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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