In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, 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 place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” 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 seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
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