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During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We got to the graduate housing, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.

Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I consider applying for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.

The following day 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 director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

As is common in NYC – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I held that position for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.

I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an elite institution and seek a position. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.

Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, 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 forever grateful.

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