During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Because my friend was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had planned a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We reached the graduate housing, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Setting down our luggage, we made our way to the cafeteria, where we got some food, took a seat, and started talking to other diners.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had just graduated with a scientific background and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a job with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I did not possess a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The engineering student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but straight off told my prospective employer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I got no-cost classes at Columbia, and I seized the chance to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his name, but his selfless gesture altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the bravery or nerve to approach someone at an elite institution and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.
Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Someone You Didn't Know Has Ever Done for You?
From cheering you up to transforming your future, we would love to know random meetings that have stuck with you.
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