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Back in 2006, I traveled to the Australian capital for a medical school interview. My plan was I would book a place to stay upon arrival, however when I arrived, a large conference was happening and all the backpackers hostels and cheap hotels were fully booked.

As a visitor from the city-state of Singapore, the idea crossed my mind the possibility of bed down in the terminal – but quickly found that airport, not like the one back home, is not open around the clock. Not knowing quite what to do and growing worried, I boarded a city-bound bus and started wandering near the casino, believing I might spend the night somewhere that stayed open through the night. That wouldn’t put me in the ideal condition for acing the admissions interview the following day, yet, as a cash-strapped student, luxury accommodation was impossible.

We could all use more people with such compassion.

It seems I seemed confused because a female student saw me loitering in the city center and asked if I was OK. I explained my predicament and immediately she suggested I could crash on the ground in her student dorm at ANU – an ideal turn of events, as that’s where my medical school interview would take place the next morning. Generously, she also provided me some free dinner: one of the stuffed baguettes she had taken home her part-time job. This gave me the bathroom and a secure location and secure to sleep.

In retrospect, I can appreciate the significant risk she took as a woman letting a man she’d just met sleep on her floor. In those days I was in my male privilege bubble and was oblivious to such safety concerns. Today, as a parent, I’m amazed she did that – and remain deeply appreciative.

I didn’t end up attending the Australian National University, and I didn’t meet that kind stranger again, yet her memory has stayed with me her amazing act of human compassion. I hope karma has returned her generosity tenfold. The world needs more folks like that woman.