Being Rich is Not Enough, Education too Matters
A self-made millionaire is in a trouble as he is making 27th attempt to pass the entry test with the motto to get admission in a university.
Liang Shi, a 56-year old citizen of China appeared in the “gaokao” college entrance exam for the 27th time on Wednesday.
It is, nonetheless, still not clear whether he cleared the entry test this time or not. Liang’s struggle indicates that being rich is not enough and education is also essential in life.
Liang, 56, worked his way up from a menial job to establishing his own construction materials business.
He has become millionaire, but his dream of getting education in the Sichuan University still haunts him.
To compete with 13 million high school seniors taking the exam, Liang said he has been living “the life of an ascetic monk” for the past few months. He is getting up every day to furiously study textbooks for 12 hours a day.
“It’s an uncomfortable thought that I didn’t manage to get a college education,” Liang told media.
“I really want to go to university and become an intellectual.”
Over the past four decades, the Sichuan native has taken the gaokao 26 times but has consistently failed to get the required result to send him to his chosen university.
“They call me ‘the gaokao holdout’,” he said, proudly owning a mocking nickname given to him by local media.
For students, a good gaokao result can decide one’s life trajectory, with a degree from an elite university conferring respect, status and better job opportunities.
Liang took the exam for the first time in 1983, when he was only 16.
This time, he is making another attempt to achieve his dream.
