In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had planned a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Ever Done for You?
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