During the late 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a companion. Since my travel mate was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had booked a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the canteen, where we grabbed food, took a seat, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I did for a living, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that after dark. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away told my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a place where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.
I worked there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his name, but his selfless gesture changed my life in multiple respects. I lacked the courage or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Stranger Has Once Performed for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to transforming your future, we want to hear about random meetings that have left a lasting impression.
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