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During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We reached the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.

He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door 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, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.

A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I held that position for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.

We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.

What's more, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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