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In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was considering pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.

We got to the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.

He noted that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.

A day later I toured the city, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.

We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.

What's more, that role at the university led me to 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 benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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