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During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had planned a 14-day stopover there en route to London.

We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.

Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.

He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.

The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.

We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.

Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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