In the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Sitting next to me was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the school of engineering, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed 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 lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I attended the interview – but right away told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his name, but his incredible act of kindness changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and request employment. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
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