In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had planned a two-week stay there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or nerve to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. And, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Someone You Didn't Know Has Once Performed for You?
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