Freshman

Freshman is a term commonly used to refer to a person that is in their first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary or post-secondary school. In the US, freshman usually denotes a first year student, whereas in Canada, the word 'frosh' describes a first year student.

In the Gulf Council countries (GCC), a freshman is called Mustajid (مُستجد), which means one who is new to something. Informally a freshman is called a Sanfoor (سنفور), which is the Arabic word for the Smurf.

The term 'freshman' is not commonly used in Australia or New Zealand. The term first year is used within Australia and New Zealand universities primarily to describe students in their first year of tertiary education direct from secondary school, the exception being the University of Otago where the term 'fresher' is employed. In Australia, Year 7 (eight in South Australia) is the first year of high school education; in New Zealand, Year Nine is the first year of Secondary Education—in contrast to North America, where the ninth grade or "freshman year" is the first year. In New Zealand, year nine students are sometimes referred to as "Turds" as a derogatory reference to the old form system, as year nine was previously known as third form.

The exception to this general norm is the use of the terms 'fResher', 'fReshman', or simply 'fResh' to describe first year residents at the University of Sydney residential colleges.

The first year students who go to university starting their bachelor are called "generatiestudenten" (in Dutch). This is the official way of referring to first-year students. In Dutch-Belgium (officially known as Flanders) students choose to become a member in a 'studentenclub'. In their first year of membership the male students are called 'schachten' and the female students are called 'porren'. They are inferior to other members, and often tasked with all the dirty jobs. This is part of becoming a 'full' member. They keep this title during the entire academic year, until the 'ontgroening', when they become a full member of the club. The Belgian tradition in the north of the country has heavily influenced the French practices, mainly because the largest French university (UCL) was relocalised from the Belgian city of Leuven only in 1968. Of course, the French tradition differs on various points. The correct terminology for first year students aspiring to become a member of a club in French-Belgium is 'bleus'. Some universities may have other names according to their own traditions.

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