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During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.

We reached the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.

The next day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.

I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a graduate degree in global studies.

I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.

What's more, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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