During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my friend was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to other diners.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. 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 working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, returning to the canteen that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Once Performed for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to altering your path, we want to hear about chance encounters that have stuck with you.
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