During the final years of the 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We arrived at the postgrad residence, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, sat down, and began chatting with other diners.
Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq pursuing an engineering degree at a prestigious New York university. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science 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 why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
In typical New York fashion – a city where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to finish a graduate degree in global studies.
I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in multiple respects. I didn't possess the courage or self-assurance to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. Additionally, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university led me to a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
What is the Most Generous Act a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?
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