During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job 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 toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity 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 incredible act of kindness changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
What is the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
Whether it's cheering you up to altering your path, we are interested in chance encounters that have stuck with you.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are an adult, anonymously if you choose. What you share are confidential, and are solely for the purpose of this feature.
