In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting 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 right away told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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