The Generosity of Strangers: How a Gentleman I Only Just Encountered Helped Me Land the Position That Altered My Path

During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.

Beside me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.

He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly 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 walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a graduate degree in global studies.

I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.

What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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