ABSTRACT
Precisely what is a student? Or rather, precisely who is a student? What about someone who is registered for a course at university or college but never (really, never) turns up for classes? Or conversely, someone who turns up regularly for classes without being registered? Exactly when do you become a student, between the time when you apply for a place on some course and the time when you sit in the first class? And when, for that matter, do you stop being a student? Is it when you leave your last class or exam, when you get your final results, when you go through the graduation ceremony, when your student-union card expires, or when you get your first permanent job? In other words, under precisely what circumstances would it be true for you to say I am a student, and when could you be accused of lying?
