During the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was interested in starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a fortnight visit there before heading to London.
We reached the student accommodation, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He asked me what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been performing experiments with electron microscopy.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I should apply for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I went out exploring, returning to the canteen that night. The man from Iraq walked over to me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had taken the effort, I showed up for the discussion – but right away explained to my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to finish a master’s of international affairs.
I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity changed my life in numerous aspects. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an elite institution and ask for a job. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, 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 currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Most Generous Act a Unknown Person Has Shown for You?
Whether it's brightening your mood to transforming your future, we are interested in unexpected interactions that have remained in your memory.
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