Here it is the eve of the start of classes, and you cannot miss the excitement on campus. The first-year students can be seen chatting with new friends, settling into their new home. They’re making the rounds to receptions to meet professors and inquire about majors. I attended the English department reception earlier this afternoon and, to my amazement, met a first-year student from Goldsboro, N.C., ready to begin his journey tomorrow to become a college professor. His first step: becoming an English major. (He has a surer sense of destiny than I did at that stage of orientation.)

Those of you who love Wake Forest know what it’s like to come back after the summer break. You step lightly as you make that first circle around the Quad. The footballs and frisbees are flying.

You go to The Pit early not because you’re hungry but because you have much socializing to do.

“What’s up, dude?” — overheard on campus today

In the waning hours before the books are cracked, the campus feels like a carnival.  Just look at what’s been erected on Manchester Plaza for a party tonight hosted by the WFU Resident Student Association and the Student Union. It makes me wish I could start all over again with the Class of 2015.

Step right up