In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a travel partner. Because my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared 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 – close to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York resulted in a position in Switzerland where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
What is the Most Generous Act a Unknown Person Has Ever Done for You?
From making your day to altering your path, we would love to know random meetings that have stuck with you.
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