Man in China Accepted to Dream University After 8-Year Struggle

A former security guard in China has surprised many by entering the prestigious Tsinghua University master's program on his eighth attempt. Now he has set an even grander goal for himself — to study in the PhD program at Harvard Universityin the future. This was reported by South China Morning Post .

31-year-old Yang Xiao had dreamed of studying at Tsinghua University since childhood. In 2013, he took the country's national entrance examination — gaokao— and became a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. After successfully completing his education in 2018, he opened a private art school in Shenyang. However, his childhood dream and the promise he made to his beloved led him back to Tsinghua University. But on his first application to the master's program, he failed the exam.

Despite this, Yang told his beloved that he had been accepted into the master's program, believing he would surely achieve his goal the following year. However, his second attempt also ended in failure. During his third year of preparation, he began a relationship with a woman he met online. Later, the woman used her illness and gambling debts as excuses to regularly take money from him. As a result, Yang lost more than 1 million yuan (over 150,000 US dollars).

After the relationship ended, he was left in heavy debt and also failed to enter the master's program. His parents helped him clear his debts, while the art school ceased operations.

In subsequent years, Yang repeatedly failed exams by very narrow margins. To make a living, he first worked as a cleaner and later as a security guard in the international students' dormitory at Tsinghua University. One day, a remark by a stranger pointing him out to her child: "If you don't study well, you'll end up like this person," served as a powerful motivation for Yang.

After that, he secretly attended university lectures during the day and practiced English with foreign students in the evening. Later, he was promoted to head of the university's security team. This allowed him to earn a higher salary, have lighter work duties, and dedicate more time to his studies.

Yang noted that his work as a security guard completely changed his attitude toward labor and people. Despite living a modest life, he once spent all his savings on an air ticket to attend an academic seminar. Later, this very visit allowed him to win several academic awards.

Finally, in June 2026, after eight years of continuous hard work and patience, Yang became a master's student at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University. Although the master's program typically lasts three years, he plans to finish his education in two years for financial reasons. His biggest dream is to study in a fully funded PhD program in intangible cultural heritage at Harvard University.