Student
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb "stŭdērĕ", meaning "to direct one's zeal at"; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject.
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[edit] Scope
In its widest use, "student" is used for any school or class attendee. In many countries, the word "student" or a cognate equivalent (e.g., French "étudiant") is reserved for higher education or university students; persons attending classes in primary or secondary schools are typically called pupils. However derived adjectives in such languages (e.g., "estudiantin" in French) may also, or even especially (e.g., Dutch "studentikoos"), be associated with the non-academic, fun-loving side of stereotyped "student life" (in part organised, such as hazing, "Greek life" in North American Fraternities and sororities), although many students hardly ever or never indulge in it.
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 age specified in their jurisdiction.
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. The first western (European) universities were student universities: the professors depended on payment from the students, who picked their own courses, often itinerant.
17 November is International Students Day, which commemorates those students who called for peace who were killed at the beginning of World War II; specifically, the date was chosen in memory of Jan Opletal and the events following his death.
[edit] Years
In the United States, where undergraduate degree courses and high school commonly last four years, the following terms are generally used. They originated in England and fell into disuse there but are sometimes now adopted in other countries:
- A freshman (common alternatives: fish, fresher, frosh, newbie, freshie, snotter, fresh-meat, etc.) is a first-year student in college or university, or, chiefly in the United States, in high school. This word came from England but is now used far more frequently in U.S. English. The gender-neutral variation "freshperson" is rare.
- At universities in the United Kingdom the term "fresher" is used to describe new students, however some universities are attempting to drop the connotative associations of "freshers week" by renaming it to "welcome week". 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 are known as "tertians", and fourth years, or others in their final year of study, are called "magistrands".
- In Australia some university students favour the term "jaffy" for freshman,[1][2] an acronym standing for "just another fucking first-year". The meaning refers to the fact that, having finished high-school as one of the most important students in a small school, the new students are suddenly the least important students in a large university, i.e. they are "just another" in a sea of irrelevant freshmen. Otherwise first-years, second-years, etc., is in common usage.
In Canada, the terms are occasionally used. In English provinces, the high school (known as Academy or secordary school) years are referred to simply as first, second, third, fourth and fifth year. In university, students are classified as first-, second-, third-, or fourth-year students. First years are commonly known as frosh, and the first week of university for first year students is commonly known as Frosh week.
- It should also be noted that freshmen are generally picked on more than other grade levels, in particular by the seniors, because the freshmen are usually younger than the other students and lack general knowledge of the school. In many traditions there is a remainder of the ancient (boarding, pre-commuting) tradition of fagging. He may also be subjected to a period of hazing or ragging as a pledge(r) or rookie, especially if joining a fraternity/sorority or certain other clubs, mainly athletic teams. For example, many U.S. 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 U.S., a sophomore is a second-year student. Folk etymology has it that the word means "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 fact from the word "sophumer", an obsolete variant of "sophism" [3]. In Britain, the term "sophomore" is unknown and second year students are simply called "second years".
- The term "underclassman" is sometimes used to refer collectively to freshmen and sophomores.
- Similarly, the term "upperclassman" is sometimes used to refer collectively to Juniors and seniors sometimes even sophomores.
- 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 in college or university, or, chiefly in the United States, in high school.
- A senior is a student in the last (usually fourth) year in college or university, or, chiefly in the United States, in high school. A college student who takes more than the normal number of years to graduate is sometimes referred to as a "super senior". [1]
- A student that is repeating a grade level of schooling due to poor grades is sometimes referred to as having been "held back".
- The term pupil (originally a Latin term for a minor as the ward of an adult guardian etc.) is used in English primary and secondary schools instead of student, but once attending higher education such as sixth-form college etc, the term "student" is standard.
The United States military academies use only numerical terms, except there are colloquial expressions used in everyday speech. 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. Unofficially, other terms are used, for example at the United States Military Academy, freshman are called "plebes," sophomores are called "yearlings" or "yuks," juniors are called "cows," and seniors are called "firsties." 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).
- Freshers' Flu refers to the generic illness that many new students get during the first few weeks of starting the first year. This is often attributed to viral/bacterial diseases being carried by students from other regions of the world, to which some have no immunity.
[edit] Idiomatic use
"Freshman" and "sophomore" are sometimes used figuratively, almost exclusively in the United States, to refer to a first or second effort ("the singer's sophomore album"), or to a politician's first or second term in office ("freshman 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.)
[edit] References
- ^ Definition of a super senior; URL accessed October 5, 2006.
[edit] See also
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