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In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.

We got to the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.

Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.

He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately explained to my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she responded: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” 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 used the opportunity to earn a graduate degree in global studies.

We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or nerve to approach someone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.

What's more, that gig at Columbia resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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