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During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.

We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.

Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.

He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.

A day later I toured the city, 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 gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.

I was employed there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.

I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.

Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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