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During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.

We got to the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to other diners.

Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

As is common in NYC – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” 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 used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.

I lost touch with him and I can't recall his name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.

What's more, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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