Emotional student joining year one class at the beginning (5)
I believe the answer is:
lyric
'emotional' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'student joining year one class at the beginning' is the wordplay.
'student' becomes 'L' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'joining' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'year' becomes 'yr' (abbreviation).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'at the beginning' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'class' is 'c'.
'l'+'yr'+'i'+'c'='LYRIC'
(Other definitions for lyric that I've seen before include "Song's words" , "Short poem of songlike quality" , "Poem - verse - London theatre" , "Song's text" , "Words to a song" .)