His work caught the eye of his art teacher, Mr. Cherry, who spent time nurturing Ernest’s natural abilities. Mr. Cherry believed in Ernest and encouraged him to study art in college. Mr. Cherry, told Dr. Burchette, then the head of the art department at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C., about Ernest. Mr. Cherry, Dr. Burchette, and Grandma Alice helped Ernest enroll at St. Augustine’s as an art major in 1980.

Ernest studied under Dr. Burchette for two years. The grant program for the department was discontinued after two years and Ernest had to take a job in the electrical field. He took a job with a large lighting company in Florida in 2000.