In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Since my travel mate was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the canteen, where we grabbed food, sat down, and began chatting with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a scientific background and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.
He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – close to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was about to fly 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 man from Iraq came up to 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 gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but right away explained to my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to complete a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.
Critically, that job in New York resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to altering your path, we want to hear about chance encounters that have left a lasting impression.
Feel free to recount your experience if you are an adult, anonymously if you choose. What you share are confidential, and are intended for the aim of this article.
