In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to Europe with a travel partner. Since my companion was considering starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a big 10-storey building on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He asked me what I did, and I shared that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I consider applying for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “We can make that happen. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that free tuition.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a role in Europe where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.
What is the Nicest Thing a Someone You Didn't Know Has Ever Done for You?
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