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During the late 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.

Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.

The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but right away told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a graduate degree in global studies.

I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or nerve to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.

Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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