During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Beside me was an individual of Iraqi origin studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
What's more, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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 remained in your memory.
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