In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been conducting research with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that night. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. 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 gig at Columbia paved the way for a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share 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 Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
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