A Tale of Unexpected Kindness: The Time a University Student Allowed Me to Stay on Her Dorm Ground
During the year 2006, My journey took me to the Australian capital for an admissions interview for medical school. I assumed to arrange accommodation after getting there, but once I got there, a big convention was in town and all the backpackers hostels and cheap hotels were completely sold out.
Hailing from Singapore, the idea crossed my mind the possibility of bed down in the terminal – only to discover the local airport, unlike Singapore’s, does not operate all night. Unsure of quite what to do and getting a bit desperate, I caught a bus into town and found myself drifting near the casino, thinking it was a place to spend the night in an establishment operating through the night. That wouldn’t put me at my peak for acing the admissions interview the following day, yet, as a cash-strapped student, I couldn’t afford.
Our society requires more folks like that woman.
It seems I seemed lost as a woman spotted me walking aimlessly through the city center and wondered if everything was alright. I explained the story of my accommodation crisis and right away she suggested I could sleep on a spare mattress in her student dorm at the Australian National University – an ideal turn of events, considering that was where my medical school interview was scheduled for the next day. Generously, she also provided me some free dinner: a leftover sandwiches she had taken home her part-time job. This gave me a hot shower and a protected spot and secure to sleep.
Looking back, it’s clear to me the significant risk she took being a woman letting a man she’d just met stay in her room. At that time I operated under my male privilege bubble and did not consider to the potential danger. As a dad now, I am astonished she took that chance – yet deeply appreciative.
Ultimately, I did not go to the Australian National University, and I lost touch with the student afterwards, but her act remains etched in my mind her selfless deed of kindness. I hope life has returned her act of kindness many times over. The world needs more people who show such kindness.
