An Compassion of People We Don't Know: The Way a Person I Had Just Met Assisted Me Secure the Position That Transformed My Existence

In the closing decade of the 80s, I was embarking on a backpacking trip to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my friend was interested in pursuing a master’s degree in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the UWS named International House. Setting down our luggage, we headed straight to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with other diners.

Adjacent to my seat was an individual of Iraqi origin enrolled in an engineering program at Columbia University. He wanted to know what I did, and I told him that I had just graduated with a science degree and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering department, which was how he knew about it. He recommended that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I lacked a US visa.

The following day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. 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. Since he had made the arrangement, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

In typical New York fashion – a metropolis where opportunities abound – she said: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I held that position for a trio of years. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his identity, but his incredible act of kindness altered my destiny in multiple respects. I lacked the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an prestigious college and seek a position. Additionally, I had consistently hoped to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.

Critically, that role at the university led me to a position in Switzerland where I encountered my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

Can you recall the Most Generous Act a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?

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