During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and began chatting with other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over to me and let me know that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We can make that happen. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered 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.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Ever Done for You?
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