The Generosity of People We Don't Know: How a Man I Had Just Met Supported Me Obtain the Job That Changed My Life

In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We got to the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.

Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.

I was employed there for three years. 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 am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, 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 gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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