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During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we got some food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.

He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.

A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – 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 place where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.

I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a master’s of international affairs.

I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.

Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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