During the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a companion. Since my travel mate was exploring pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had planned a fortnight visit there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a large multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, 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, and I shared that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He noted that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I consider applying for a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, saying that I was about to fly to Europe and, even more importantly, I didn’t have a US visa.
The following day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that night. The engineering student approached me and let me know 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.
In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a postgrad program in international relations.
I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I lacked the courage or self-assurance to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Moreover, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
Can you recall the Nicest Thing a Someone You Didn't Know Has Shown for You?
From cheering you up to altering your path, we would love to know random meetings that have left a lasting impression.
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