An Compassion of Strangers: How a Person I Barely Knew Helped Me Obtain the Job That Changed My Life

In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.

Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.

He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits 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 am unaware of his identity, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.

Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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