An Kindness of Unknown Individuals: How a Person I Had Just Met Supported Me Obtain the Job That Transformed My Existence

In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.

We got to the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to other diners.

Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.

The following day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student walked over to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.

As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I held that position for 36 months. 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 don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence 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 educational benefit.

Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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