The Compassion of Unknown Individuals: The Way a Gentleman I Only Just Encountered Assisted Me Secure the Position That Altered My Path

In the closing decade of the 80s, I set out on a low-cost journey to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in NYC, we had arranged a fortnight visit there on the way to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Setting down our luggage, we went directly to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, took a seat, and started talking to people eating there.

Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He asked me what I did, and I told him that I had newly finished with a degree in science and had been conducting research using an electron microscope.

He pointed out that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – adjacent to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I should apply for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was about to fly to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.

The next day I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that night. The man from Iraq came up to me and told me that he had set up a meeting for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

Reflecting the city's spirit – a metropolis where anything feels possible – she said: “We'll handle it. When can you start?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. An advantage of the role was that I also received free tuition at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.

We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his identity, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in numerous aspects. I lacked the confidence or nerve to contact anyone at an elite institution and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.

Perhaps most importantly, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m always appreciative.

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

Whether it's making your day to transforming your future, we would love to know unexpected interactions that have remained in your memory.

Feel free to recount your experience if you are of legal age, without revealing your identity if you wish. Your responses are confidential, and are intended for the purpose of this feature.