🔗 Share this article

In the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a companion. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we grabbed food, found a table, and began chatting with people eating there.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did for a living, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a science degree and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.

He pointed out that there was an research lab at the institution – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was why he was aware of it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, explaining that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.

The following day I ventured out, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student approached me and let me know that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Because he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away informed my host that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a place where everything seems achievable – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I worked there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a graduate degree in global studies.

I lost touch with him and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I didn't possess the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and ask for a job. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.

Critically, that role at the university resulted in a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.

Can you recall the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?

From brightening your mood to changing your life, we would love to know random meetings that have remained in your memory.

Please share your story if you are an adult, without revealing your identity if you choose. What you share are protected, and are solely for the purpose of this feature.