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In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.

We arrived at the student accommodation, a big ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.

Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.

A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but immediately told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.

As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.

We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.

Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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