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During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.

We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and began chatting with people eating there.

Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.

He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.

The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately informed 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 opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.

I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.

I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.

Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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