During the late 1980s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.
We arrived at the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS called International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the canteen, where we got some food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with fellow residents.
Sitting next to me was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.
He mentioned that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I should apply for a position with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that evening. The Iraqi student walked over to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but straight off told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for 36 months. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a postgrad program in international relations.
We didn't cross paths after that and I don’t even know his name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. Additionally, I had long dreamed to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that educational benefit.
Critically, that role at the university resulted in a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Stranger Has Ever Done for You?
From making your day to transforming your future, we would love to know unexpected interactions that have stuck with you.
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