🔗 Share this article

In the closing decade of the 80s, I was beginning a budget travel adventure to the European continent with a travel partner. Since my companion was interested in enrolling in graduate studies in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there before heading to London.

We arrived at the graduate housing, a sizeable multi-story edifice on the Manhattan's Upper West Side known as International House. Once we unpacked, we went directly to the canteen, where we picked up meals, found a table, and engaged in conversation with people eating there.

Adjacent to my seat was an Iraqi man pursuing an engineering degree at an Ivy League institution. He inquired what I my profession was, and I told him that I had newly finished with a science degree and had been performing experiments involving microscopic analysis.

He mentioned that there was an research lab at the university – right next door to the engineering department, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He suggested that I consider applying for a role with them. I laughed it off, saying that I was soon departing to Europe and, more critically, I lacked a US visa.

A day later I toured the city, coming back to the dining hall that evening. The engineering student approached me and informed me that he had set up a meeting for me with the director of the microscopy lab at Columbia. Given that he had gone to the trouble, I attended the interview – but immediately informed my interviewer that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.

In typical New York fashion – a city where opportunities abound – she said: “That can be arranged. How soon can you begin?” I missed my plane to London.

I was employed there for a trio of years. One of the benefits was that I got complimentary education at Columbia, and I seized the chance to complete a graduate degree in global studies.

I never saw that student again and I am unaware of his full name, but his selfless gesture transformed my future in so many ways. I didn't possess the confidence or self-belief to reach out at an elite institution and seek a position. Additionally, I had always wanted to study abroad, but lacked the financial means without that educational benefit.

What's more, that job in New York led me to a position in Switzerland where I got to know my handsome spouse from France, with whom I currently share four wonderful sons and daughters. This was a pivotal life event. That helpful person set me on a different course in life, and I’m eternally thankful.

Tell us about the Kindest Gesture a Unknown Person Has Once Performed for You?

From brightening your mood to transforming your future, we are interested in unexpected interactions that have remained in your memory.

Feel free to recount your experience if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you prefer. The stories you tell are protected, and are solely for the aim of this article.