🔗 Share this article

In the final years of the 1980s, I was embarking on a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Since my companion was exploring starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had booked a fortnight visit there before heading to London.

We reached the graduate housing, a big multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. After dropping our bags, we made our way to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and engaged in conversation with other diners.

Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had just graduated with a degree in science and had been working on studies involving microscopic analysis.

He mentioned that there was an research lab at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He proposed that I consider applying for a role with them. I dismissed the idea, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, even more importantly, I did not possess a US visa.

A day later I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq approached me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but immediately told my interviewer that I was without a work permit, so I was unable to accept the role.

In typical New York fashion – a place where anything feels possible – she responded: “We'll handle it. What's your start date?” I missed my plane to London.

I held that position for three years. One of the benefits was that I was granted no-cost classes at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to earn a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I can't recall his name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I would never have had the bravery or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and request employment. And, I had always wanted to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.

Perhaps most importantly, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my beautiful French husband, with whom I currently share a family of four kids. That encounter altered everything. That helpful person redirected my path in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

What is the Most Generous Act a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?

Whether it's brightening your mood to changing your life, we are interested in chance encounters that have stuck with you.

We invite you to tell us if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you choose. Your responses are protected, and are solely for the purpose of this feature.