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In the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.

Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.

He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.

The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.

We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.

Critically, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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