In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice 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, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. 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 working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
What is the Kindest Gesture a Someone You Didn't Know Has Once Performed for You?
From cheering you up to altering your path, we want to hear about random meetings that have left a lasting impression.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are 18 or over, without revealing your identity if you wish. What you share are protected, and are intended for the purpose of this feature.
