In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Since my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did, and I shared 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 research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I went to the meeting – but straight off informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his full name, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
What is the Most Generous Act a Stranger Has Once Performed for You?
From cheering you up to transforming your future, we want to hear about random meetings that have remained in your memory.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are of legal age, anonymously if you choose. The stories you tell are protected, and are solely for the purpose of this feature.
