The mystery of the nighttime figure skater

And a letter from a panicked professor

This is Emily Writes Back, the advice column for brilliant people, by Emily Sanders Hopkins.

Dear Emily, 

This morning, my Evil Yet Addictive Social Media (tm) feed reminded me of what I was doing this day two years ago. As was normal for me this time of year, I was preparing to teach a round of college courses for the Spring Semester. It was January, 20…