During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to Europe with a travel partner. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a two-week stay there on the way to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side named International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to fellow residents.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the university – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He proposed that I ought to seek a position with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student walked over to me and informed me that he had arranged an interview for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but straight off told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.
I held that position for three years. A perk of the job was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his name, but his incredible act of kindness transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia resulted in a job in Zurich where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I am raising four amazing children. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Someone You Didn't Know Has Once Performed for You?
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