Security guard finally lands place at fine arts academy

A security guard working at China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing has become a sensation online after finally being recruited by the academy after years of effort.

Li Cheng, 28, is from Hengshan County in Hunan Province. His scores ranked eighth in the academy’s professional exam this year while he ranked 46th four years ago.

Li attended the college entrance examination for the first time in June, 2008, but he failed in his efforts to be enrolled by China Central Academy of Fine Arts. After that, he worked as a teaching assistant, a worker at Foxconn, an air-conditioning mechanic, a deliveryman for a fast food diner, and finally as a security guard.

Li quit his job in Shanxi Province in June, 2012 and visited the academy on his way back to his hometown while transferring in Beijing. A security guard at the academy asked whether he wanted to work there, which he did for two years.

A graduate student majoring in oil painting asked Li to help him carry drawing board while Li was patrolling the classroom building one day. He grabbed the opportunity and asked the student to give some advice on his drawings. The student suggested he learn some skills at the academy’s studio, where Li began to study with discounted tuition fees.

Li said he would like to continue studying, prepare for the doctoral qualifying examination at Peking University, and become a teacher himself in the future.