In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to Europe with a travel partner. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the postgrad residence, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off 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 evening. The man from Iraq came up to 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 showed up for the discussion – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Tell us about the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Once Performed for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to changing your life, we would love to know random meetings that have stuck with you.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are an adult, anonymously if you prefer. The stories you tell are confidential, and will only be used the aim of this article.
