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During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, 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 Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.

He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.

A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.

I was employed there for three years. One of the benefits was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.

I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. And, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.

What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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