During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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