A young man from central China's Wuhan city became a college student for the fourth time in September after being kicked out three times, according to Friday's media reports.

Zhou Jian, 23, who is now enrolled in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), said he had no difficulty passing the college entrance exam.

Zhou got excellent scores in each of his four college entrance exams and could have gone to one of the most prestigious universities in China.

He first enrolled -- twice -- in Wuhan University and is now back for a second shot at HUST.

Zhou was forced to leave college because his obsession with computer games and internet surfing made him miss too many classes and fail to get enough credits.

"I feel old now. Most of my classmates are several years younger than me," Zhou said. "I'll try my best to graduate this time."

When Zhou disappeared from campus recently, his roommates started to worry, knowing his habit of parking himself in a nearby internet bar and staying there for days on end.

"Zhou is a typical example of those students who have no trouble with exams in China's exam-oriented middle school education but fail to adapt to college life where the emphasis is on self-study and all-round development," said a professor from Wuhan University.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2006)