In the late 1980s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the UWS known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The man from Iraq approached me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to approach someone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Someone You Didn't Know Has Shown for You?
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