In the late 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He recommended that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Unknown Person Has Shown for You?
From making your day to transforming your future, we want to hear about random meetings that have stuck with you.
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