During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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