Though schools around the globe have different start dates, calendars and traditions, the first day of a new term is an exciting time filled with the prospects of gaining more knowledge, making new friends and building community. Here: Schoolchildren attend their first lesson on Knowledge Day in the town of Turov, Zhytkavichy District, Gomel Region, Belarus on September 1, 2017. Knowledge Day marks the beginning of a new school year in Belarus and is celebrated on September 1. (Photo by Viktor Drachev/TASS via Getty Images)

Performers dressed as Pikachu, the popular animation Pokemon series character, perform in the Pikachu parade in Yokohama on August 7, 2016. Some 50 life-size Pikachu characters, the most famous from the Pokemon game, marched along the city’s waterfront street as visitors took mobile phone pictures and videos of them in scorching sunshine. Some participants said they attended the event to search for rare characters of Pokemon – a word short for “pocket monster” – for the megahit smartphone app, which was launched in several countries around the world last month. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

First time gun owner, Jessie Palmieri holds a target she shot with a H&K VP9 9mm gun at the Ringmasters of Utah gun range, in Springville, Utah on December 18, 2015. (Photo by George Frey/Reuters)

A Christian evangelist hands out cards reading “God is Good!” as fans arrive for the University of Georgia football game against the University of Tennessee, ahead of the midterm elections including former Georgia football star and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker, in Athens, Georgia, U.S. November 5, 2022. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Kirby waits to be judged during the 44th annual Drake Relays Beautiful Bulldog Contest, Monday, April 24, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. The pageant kicks off the Drake Relays festivities at Drake University where a bulldog is the mascot. (Photo by Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)

A stork starts from its nest in the cliffs high above the Atlantic Ocean in Cabo Sardao, Portugal, Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

An Abyssinian cat befriends a judge during a two-day international cat exhibition organized by the World Cat Federation (WCF) in Budapest, Hungary, 18 January 2025. (Photo by Zoltán Balogh/EPA/EFE)

Matilda Thurston 10, enjoys a warm day at Hathersage Swimming Pool in Hathersage on April 27, 2025. A mini heatwave is set to hit parts of the UK with temperatures reaching 27 degrees next week. (Photo by Ioannis Alexopoulos/London News Pictures)