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In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.

A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but right away explained to my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.

I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.

What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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