In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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