In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a friend. Since my friend was exploring enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The man from Iraq came up 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 taken the effort, I attended the interview – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or nerve to reach out at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
What is the Kindest Gesture a Someone You Didn't Know Has Once Performed for You?
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