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During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my companion was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.

We reached the postgrad residence, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as 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 people eating there.

Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.

He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.

The following day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.

In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.

We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.

Critically, that gig at Columbia resulted in a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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