In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – right next door to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. 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. Given that he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to reach out at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
What is the Most Generous Act a Stranger Has Shown for You?
From brightening your mood to transforming your future, we are interested in random meetings that have remained in your memory.
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