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In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a big ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.

Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.

I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a master’s of international affairs.

I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.

What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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