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In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.

We got to the student accommodation, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the UWS called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with other diners.

Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I consider applying for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.

Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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