During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off explained to my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received 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 identity, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Shown for You?
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