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In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.

We got to the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.

A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.

I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.

What's more, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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