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In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.

Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.

A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi 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 gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

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

I held that position for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.

Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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