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In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.

We got to the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.

Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He inquired what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.

He pointed out that there was an research lab at the university – close to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.

A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.

I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.

Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.

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