During the late 1980s, I was beginning a backpacking trip to the European continent with a friend. Because my friend was exploring starting a postgraduate program in New York, we had booked a two-week stay there en route to London.
We arrived at the student accommodation, a big ten-floor structure on the Manhattan's Upper West Side called International House. Once we unpacked, we headed straight to the dining hall, where we picked up meals, sat down, and started talking to fellow residents.
Beside me was an Iraqi man enrolled in an engineering program at a prestigious New York university. He wanted to know what I my profession was, and I told him that I had recently completed my studies with a degree in science and had been working on studies using an electron microscope.
He pointed out that there was an microscopy facility at Columbia University – right next door to the engineering faculty, which was the reason he was familiar with it. He recommended that I consider applying for a role with them. I chuckled at the suggestion, telling him that I was heading off to Europe and, additionally, I didn’t have a US visa.
The next day I ventured out, going back to the cafeteria that night. The engineering student approached me and told me that he had organized a discussion for me with the leader of the research team at Columbia. Since he had taken the effort, I went to the meeting – but immediately informed my host that I didn’t have a visa, so I was likely not a suitable candidate.
Reflecting the city's spirit – a place where opportunities abound – she declared: “That can be arranged. When can you start?” I missed my plane to London.
I held that position for three years. An advantage of the role was that I was granted complimentary education at Columbia, and I took advantage to earn a master’s of international affairs.
We didn't cross paths after that and I am unaware of his full name, but his remarkable generosity altered my destiny in so many ways. I would never have had the confidence or self-belief to approach someone at an Ivy League university and ask for a job. Additionally, I had always wanted to pursue education overseas, but wouldn't have been able to pay for it without that free tuition.
Perhaps most importantly, that role at the university resulted in a role in Europe where I encountered my handsome spouse from France, with whom I now have a family of four kids. It was a total sliding doors moment. That kind stranger redirected my path in life, and I’m forever grateful.
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From brightening your mood to changing your life, we are interested in chance encounters that have stuck with you.
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