During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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