In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
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