In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I should apply for a job with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The Iraqi student came up to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a place where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that gig at Columbia led me to a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Shown for You?
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