It’s been more than 40 years since I reported to Read Hall to get started on my IU student journey. I can still remember the excitement of the challenge ahead. That’s probably one of the few things I have in common with the IU class of 2020 that just began its freshman year.

I brought to IU a manual typewriter and a 13-inch TV. My phone hung on the dormitory wall. I ate what was served in the dorm cafeteria and stood in line at the fieldhouse to register for classes. A window fan was my only means to cool my room. It never entered my mind to study abroad for a period of time.

As you know, things are quite different today.

Expectations for living conditions are more demanding. Who doesn’t carry a mobile phone or do homework on a computer? And many students will travel to different countries for a semester or two to complete their education.

Talking with a few of the incoming freshmen during summer orientation, I got the sense that these students are similar to my generation in a few other ways. There will be a few knuckleheads who squander their opportunity, but for the most part, today’s IU students, like my fellow Hoosiers, are bright, ambitious, and career-minded.

The Fall issue of your Indiana University Alumni Magazine is in the mail. Enjoy the snapshot of the class of 2020 in the cover story, page 26.

Mike Wright, editor, Indiana University Alumni Magazine