Published July 7, 2026 at 5:18 PM EDT

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Time now for "My Unsung Hero," our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. "My Unsung Hero" tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. Today's story comes from Jennifer Novak. Novak's first year of college was hard. She was living in a new city, enmeshed in an abusive relationship and struggling to keep up with the demands of school. Things came to a head that spring when she received a breakup text from her boyfriend during an afternoon math class.

JENNIFER NOVAK: As I'm walking out of class, you know, I was trying to hold back tears and feeling more and more disconnected from the rest of the world. But because these feelings were so intense, you know, I wanted to just get back to my dorm and sort of be alone. I felt like I couldn't even finish the walk there. So I sat down and began having some really, really dark thoughts about who I was, what my self-worth was and if any of this was really even worth it. That's when a young man named Nico (ph) approached me. He introduced himself. He stood a few feet away, and he said to me, hey there, I'm just wondering if I can sit down with you for a while. I sort of just nodded and said, yeah, that was fine. He was welcome to sit.

And then after a breath in, he says, you know, I just noticed that you seem so intensely sad. Is it OK if I sit with you and spend some time talking with you about where you're at right now? And something about his energy and the way in which he approached that felt like it was a safe and right moment to open up about what was going on. So I started talking about how I was feeling and what was going on. I don't remember exactly what he said in this conversation. What I do remember is that I felt very seen and I felt very supported in this nonjudgmental space of this stranger in this moment in which I needed someone to connect with.

And as we wrapped up our conversation, he spent a few moments asking me, you know, did I have someone that I could talk to, that I could call, that these things that I'm experiencing are not going to last forever. And then Nico got up and he walked away. And I look back on this moment as such a pivotal one in my life because he took the time to notice, I finally had that I matter moment that I think motivated me to take those next steps and to really make sure I was going to be OK. I think a lot about how if that individual hadn't stepped into my life in that particular moment, how I might have had a very different trajectory.

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KELLY: Jennifer Novak lives in Maryland and works as a therapist. You can find more stories of unsung heroes and learn how to submit your own at hiddenbrain.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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