In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side named International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at Columbia University. He inquired 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 pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I consider applying for a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The man from Iraq came up to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in multiple respects. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. 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 role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Someone You Didn't Know Has Once Performed for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to changing your life, we are interested in random meetings that have remained in your memory.
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