During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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