During the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there en route to London.
We got to the graduate housing, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and started talking to other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I ought to seek a job with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The Iraqi student walked over to me and informed me that he had organized a discussion for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Because he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but straight off informed my prospective employer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I worked there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an elite institution and seek a position. And, I had consistently hoped to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. This was a pivotal life event. That kind stranger set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Stranger Has Ever Done for You?
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