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In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.

Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.

The following day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where opportunities abound – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.

I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.

Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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