🔗 Share this article

During the late 1980s, I was embarking on a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a companion. Because my travel mate was considering starting a postgraduate program in the Big Apple, we had arranged a fortnight visit there en route 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 headed straight to the canteen, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to people eating there.

Adjacent to my seat was an gentleman from Iraq enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I explained that I had recently completed my studies with a scientific background and had been performing experiments using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the university – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I laughed it off, telling him that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I went out exploring, coming back to the dining hall that after dark. The man from Iraq walked over 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 attended the interview – but straight off told my interviewer that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was probably wasting her time.

In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she responded: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I never got on that flight to London.

I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage 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 transformed my future in numerous aspects. I would never have had the confidence or self-assurance to reach out at an Ivy League university and request employment. Moreover, I had always wanted to take classes in another country, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that tuition waiver.

What's more, that job in New York paved the way for a position in Switzerland where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I now have four amazing children. This was a pivotal life event. That benevolent individual changed my trajectory in life, and I’m always appreciative.

What is the Kindest Gesture a Someone You Didn't Know Has Ever Done for You?

Whether it's making your day to transforming your future, we are interested in unexpected interactions that have left a lasting impression.

We invite you to tell us if you are an adult, anonymously if you prefer. What you share are secure, and will only be used the purpose of this feature.