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During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.

We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.

Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student 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 taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.

In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I held that position for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.

We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and seek a position. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.

What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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