During the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a travel partner. Since my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student approached 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 immediately told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. And, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Most Generous Act a Unknown Person Has Ever Done for You?
Whether it's making your day to changing your life, we are interested in chance encounters that have stuck with you.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you choose. What you share are confidential, and are solely for the purpose of this feature.
