🔗 Share this article

In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Because my travel mate was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in the Big Apple, we had arranged a two-week stay there before heading to London.

We got to the student accommodation, a sizeable ten-floor structure on the 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 began chatting with fellow residents.

Beside me was an Iraqi man studying engineering at Columbia University. He wanted to know 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 noted that there was an electron microscope unit at the institution – close to the school of engineering, which was how he knew about it. He suggested that I ought to seek a position with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, explaining that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I lacked a US visa.

The next day I ventured out, returning to the canteen that night. The Iraqi student came up to me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the head of the electron microscope unit at Columbia. Since he had gone to the trouble, I showed up for the discussion – but right away informed my host that I lacked the necessary visa, so I was unable to accept the role.

In typical New York fashion – a city where anything feels possible – she responded: “We can make that happen. How soon can you begin?” I never got on that flight to London.

I held that position for 36 months. An advantage of the role was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a master’s of international affairs.

I lost touch with him and I don’t even know his full 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 prestigious college and request employment. Moreover, I had long dreamed to study abroad, but could never have afforded it without that educational benefit.

Critically, that job in New York paved the way for a job in Zurich where I met my handsome spouse from France, with whom I am raising a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m always appreciative.

What is the Kindest Gesture 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 left a lasting impression.

Feel free to recount your experience if you are of legal age, without revealing your identity if you choose. The stories you tell are confidential, and are solely for the aim of this article.