In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a sizeable 10-storey building on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I did, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but straight off informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I don’t even know his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the courage or self-belief to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
What's more, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I got to know my wonderful partner, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Tell us about the Nicest Thing 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 left a lasting impression.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are of legal age, anonymously if you prefer. The stories you tell are protected, and will only be used the purpose of this feature.
