Student
- For other uses, see Student (disambiguation).
Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb "stŭdērĕ", which means "to direct one's zeal at"; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. Also known as a disciple in the sense of a religious area of study, and/or in the sense of a "discipline" of learning. In widest use, student is used to mean a school or class attendee. In many countries, the word student is however reserved for higher education or university students; persons attending classes in primary or secondary schools being called pupils.
Currently, many children and teenagers are subject to compulsory education: by law they are required to attend some form of school. Laws vary from country to country, but most students are allowed to abandon their education when they reach the legal age of consent.
Researchers, educators, and education administrators around the world are increasingly heeding student voice, a common reference to the experiences, opinions, ideas, and actions of children and youth in schools. This practice provides authenticity and efficacy for school improvement efforts.
17 November is the International Students Day, which commemorates those students killed at the beginning of World War II who called for peace; specifically, the date was chosen as a memory to Jan Opletal, and events following his death.
In the UK, the word "student" generally refers to someone studying at an advanced level (non-compulsory education), for example, college and University. The word "pupil" is used for someone attending compulsory education such as High School.
Years
In the USA, where undergraduate degree courses commonly last four years, the following terms are generally used, sometimes also adopted in other countries :
- A freshman (or fresher, frosh, newbie etc.) is a first-year student in college or university, or, chiefly in the United States, in high school. (This word came from England, replaced there since by the term "fresher", but is now used far more frequently in U.S. English; the term "freshmore" as a gender-neutral alternative).
- At universities in the United Kingdom the term fresher is used to describe new students. Unlike the American term freshman it sometimes only applies in the first few months or weeks of a student's first year. For the rest of the year they are called first years; the North American equivalent would be frosh (in singular and plural). The week before the start of a new year is called "Freshers' Week" at many universities, with a programme of special events to welcome new students.
- The ancient Scottish University of St Andrews uses the terms bejant for a first year (from the French bec-jaune 'yellow beak', fledgling). Second years are called semi-bejants, third years known as tertians and finally fourth years, or others in their final year of study, even if sooner, are called magistrands.
- Although freshman has not been as touched by political correctness as other gender-suggesting words (such as chairman), some have begun calling first-year students freshpersons, and some colleges prefer the British "freshers".
- It should also be noted that freshman are generally picked on more than other grade levels, because they're usually younger than most students and they lack general knowledge of the school, generally done by seniors. In many traditions (particularly in the USA, and less nowadays in some countries) there is a remainder of the ancient (boarding, pre-commuting) tradition of fagging, he may be subjected to a period of hazing as a pledge or rookie, especially if joining a fraternity/sorority or certain other clubs, mainly athletic teams. For example many US High Schools have initiation methods for freshmen including, but not limited to, Freshman Duct-taped Throw, Freshman races, Freshman Orientation, Freshman Freshening (referring to poor hygiene among freshmen), and the Freshman Spread.
- Even after that, specific rules may apply depending on the school's traditions (e.g. wearing a distinctive beanie), non-observance of which can be punished, even by a paddle line.
- In the US, a sophomore is a second-year student. Folk-Etymologically, the word is said to mean "wise fool"; consequently sophomoric means "pretentious, bombastic, inflated in style or manner; immature, crude, superficial" (according to the Oxford English Dictionary). While it appears to be formed from Greek sophos, meaning "wise", and moros meaning "foolish", it is in truth from the word sophumer, an obsolete variant of sophism [1]. In Britain, the term sophomore is unknown and second year students are simply called second years.
- The term middler is used to describe a third-year student of a school (generally college) which offers five years of study. In this situation, the fourth and fifth years would be referred to as "junior" and "senior" years, respectively.
- A junior is a student in the penultimate (usually third) year of high school or college.
- A senior is a student in the last (usually fourth) year at a high school, college, or university. A student taking more time than normal (usually four years) to graduate is sometimes referred to as a super senior.
The United States military academies use only numerical terms. In order from first year to fourth year, students in these institutions are officially referred to as fourth-class, third-class, second-class, and first-class cadets or midshipmen. Some universities also use numerical terms to identify classes; students enter as "first-years" and graduate as "fourth-years" (or, in some cases, "fifth-years", "sixth-years", etc.).
Idiomatic Use
Freshman and sophomore are sometimes used figuratively, mainly in US English usage, to refer for example to a first or second effort ("the singer's freshman album"), or to a politician's first or second term in office ("sophomore senator") or an athlete's first or second year on a professional sports team. Junior and senior aren't used in this figurative way to refer to third and fourth years or efforts, because of those words' broader meanings of 'younger' and 'older'. (A junior senator is therefore not one who is in his or her third term of office, but rather merely one who has not been in the Senate as long as the other senator from his or her state.)
