I was on campus after 1am on a weekday, so Hillsborough was pretty deserted. A scraggly kid that asked me if I had any cash I could spare. I said no. A few minutes later I was cutting through a dark lot and heard footsteps behind me. I turned and saw him with a knife in his hand. I grabbed his right wrist with my left and pushed that hand down, lifted myself up and started punching him in the face with all the weight and force I had. He backpedaled and we both went down.

After a minute of grappling, we ended up both face down and I had him in a tight arm bar. I kept arching my back until he finally gave into the pain and dropped the knife. I scrambled up, grabbed the knife and backed away from the attacker, ready to keep fighting, but he was done. Cradling his elbow and screaming at me he ran into the night.