In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a city where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share 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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