During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Because my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in the Big Apple, we had booked a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside 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 told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The Iraqi student approached me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where opportunities abound – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Tell us about the Most Generous Act a Someone You Didn't Know Has Ever Done for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to altering your path, we want to hear about random meetings that have left a lasting impression.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are an adult, anonymously if you wish. Your responses are secure, and are solely for the purpose of this feature.
