In the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there before heading to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large 10-storey building on the UWS called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the cafeteria, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.
Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He inquired what I did for a living, and I explained that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies with electron microscopy.
He noted that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering department, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I dismissed the idea, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away told my prospective employer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a city where anything feels possible – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I never got on that flight to London.
I worked there for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I also received no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to finish a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I can't recall his identity, but his selfless gesture changed my life in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an prestigious college and request employment. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Critically, that role at the university paved the way for a job in Zurich where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.
Can you recall the Most Generous Act a Someone You Didn't Know Has Ever Done for You?
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