OLIVER SCHNEIDEMANN

"I regret to inform you that your services are no longer needed". I was shocked that I was being laid off. Today I know that this moment in 1997 paved the way for the future. Just 4 weeks after losing my job, I started working for a highly reputable firm, Arthur Andersen. The appearance of my resume had not concerned me before, but having that highly reputable name appear on it might have helped me securing my first job in New York... Coincidentally, a friend had mentioned the Green Card Lottery to me around the same time. "Just sign up", she said. "You have nothing to lose, other than the fee". I doubted my chances and mailed the application anyway. ​One day late in the summer of 1997 I found a large envelope in the mail. I thought: "U.S. Department of Justice? What the heck do they want?" I opened it, and my jaw dropped. I was being considered for a Green Card! I had forgotten about this altogether! I went inside to sit down and read the instructions. They were requesting..