During the late 1980s, I set out on a budget travel adventure to Europe with a friend. Because my friend was considering enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had arranged a 14-day stopover there on the way to London.
We got to the student accommodation, a big multi-story edifice on the Upper West Side named International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the dining hall, where we got some food, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.
Beside me was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at an Ivy League institution. He wanted to know what I did, and I shared that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was why he was aware of it. He suggested that I ought to seek a role with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I didn’t have a US visa.
A day later I toured the city, going back to the cafeteria that after dark. The engineering student walked over to me and let me know that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Because he had gone to the trouble, I went to the meeting – but right away informed my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was probably wasting her time.
As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she said: “We'll handle it. How soon can you begin?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.
I was employed there for three years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.
We didn't cross paths after that and I can't recall his full name, but his remarkable generosity transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or self-assurance to contact anyone at an Ivy League university and seek a position. Moreover, I had long dreamed to pursue education overseas, but lacked the financial means without that tuition waiver.
Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a role in Europe where I got to know my beautiful French husband, with whom I now have four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m forever grateful.
What is the Most Generous Act a Someone You Didn't Know Has Once Performed for You?
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