In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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