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During 2006, I made a trip to Canberra for an admissions interview for medical school. I assumed to book a place to stay when I arrived, but upon reaching the city, a big convention was taking place and every single budget hostels and affordable lodging were fully booked.

Coming from Singapore, I considered maybe I could bed down in the terminal – but soon learned Canberra airport, not like the one back home, does not operate 24 hours. Not knowing what my next move should be and getting a bit desperate, I boarded a bus into town and found myself drifting towards a gaming venue, reasoning I could pass the night in an establishment that was open 24/7. Admittedly, this plan in the best shape for nailing an interview the next day, yet, as a student on a tight budget, a pricey hotel was out of reach.

We could all use more folks like that woman.

I must have looked out of place since a woman saw me loitering in the city and wondered if I was OK. I recounted my predicament and immediately she suggested I was welcome to sleep on a spare mattress in her student dorm at the local university – a perfect solution, as that’s where my interview would take place the next morning. She went further by offering me some free dinner: a leftover filled rolls she brought back her work shift. This gave me the bathroom and somewhere safe and safe for the evening.

With hindsight, it’s clear to me the enormous leap of faith she undertook as a woman inviting a man she had only just encountered sleep on her floor. Back then I existed within a bubble of male privilege and not even thinking about things like that. Now, as a father, it astounds me she did that – yet deeply appreciative.

I never did go to ANU, and I didn’t meet the student afterwards, yet her memory has stayed with me her amazing act of kindness. My sincere desire is that life has repaid her good deed tenfold. Our society requires more individuals who show such kindness.