An Generosity of Strangers: The Way a Gentleman I Only Just Encountered Supported Me Obtain the Job That Transformed My Existence

During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there en route to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.

Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.

He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student came up to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

As is common in NYC – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.

I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.

Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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