In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Since my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been conducting research involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The engineering student came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a place where opportunities abound – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I didn't possess the bravery or nerve to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
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