During the late 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
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