An Tale of Unexpected Generosity: The Time a University Student Let Me Sleep on Her Dormitory Ground

During 2006, I made a trip to Canberra for an admissions interview for medical school. My plan was to book a place to stay when I arrived, but when I arrived, a large conference was taking place and every single youth hostels and cheap hotels were completely sold out.

Hailing from the city-state of Singapore, the idea crossed my mind maybe I could spend the night at the airport – but soon learned that airport, not like the one back home, does not operate all night. With no idea what my next move should be and feeling increasingly desperate, I hopped on a bus into town and found myself drifting towards a gaming venue, thinking it was a place to spend the night in a place operating through the night. Admittedly, this plan in the ideal condition for acing the admissions interview the next day, but as a broke student, a pricey hotel was out of reach.

We could all use more folks with such compassion.

It seems I seemed out of place as a young woman noticed me walking aimlessly through the city center and wondered if I was OK. I explained my predicament and right away she suggested I could sleep on a spare mattress in her student dorm at the Australian National University – which was perfect, as that’s where my interview was the following day. She even offered me some free dinner: one of the filled rolls she had from her evening job. This gave me a hot shower and a secure location and safe to spend the night.

With hindsight, I can appreciate the enormous leap of faith she accepted being a woman inviting a male stranger she’d just met sleep on her floor. At that time I existed within my own unawareness and not even thinking to the potential danger. Today, as a parent, I’m amazed she took that chance – and remain incredibly thankful.

I never did attending that university, and I never saw her again, yet her memory has stayed with me that incredible gesture of kindness. My sincere desire is that life has returned her good deed many times over. Our society requires more people who show such kindness.