In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big ten-floor structure on the UWS called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the university – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my host that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I encountered my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Shown for You?
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