🔗 Share this article

During the final years of the 1980s, I was beginning a low-cost journey to the European continent with a friend. Because my companion was considering enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.

We got to the postgrad residence, a large ten-floor structure on the Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we grabbed food, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.

Sitting next to me was an gentleman from Iraq studying engineering at a prestigious New York university. He asked me 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 using an electron microscope.

He noted that there was an electron microscope unit at Columbia University – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a job with them. I dismissed the idea, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, additionally, I did not possess a US visa.

The next day I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had arranged an interview for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Given that he had made the arrangement, I attended the interview – but right away told my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

As is common in NYC – a metropolis where everything seems achievable – she declared: “That can be arranged. What's your start date?” I didn't board the aircraft to London.

I held that position for 36 months. A perk of the job was that I got free tuition at Columbia, and I used the opportunity to complete a graduate degree in global studies.

I never saw that student again and I can't recall his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in numerous aspects. I lacked the bravery or self-assurance to contact anyone at an prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that tuition waiver.

What's more, that gig at Columbia paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my wonderful partner, with whom I am raising four wonderful sons and daughters. That encounter altered everything. That benevolent individual set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

Can you recall the Most Generous Act a Someone You Didn't Know Has Shown for You?

From cheering you up to changing your life, we want to hear about random meetings that have stuck with you.

Feel free to recount your experience if you are an adult, without revealing your identity if you prefer. The stories you tell are confidential, and are intended for the goal of sharing inspiring stories.