During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Shown for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to altering your path, we are interested in unexpected interactions that have stuck with you.
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