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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 exploring enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We reached the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.

Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.

A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The man from Iraq came up to 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 attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

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

I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I also received complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.

We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the confidence or nerve to reach out 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.

Critically, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

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