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During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.

We reached the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.

Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.

He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.

The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.

As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.

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

We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, 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 got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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