In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the UWS known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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