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In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.

He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.

A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.

What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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