Why You No Practice?!

A question for the ages

If you've ever taught piano to kids of any age, you might have felt this way. Wait; I guarantee you’ve felt this way. I was inspired to create this image (based on the 

"Y U NO Guy" meme) by my talented and inimitable Taiwanese classmate Nina, who left our piano pedagogy class momentarily agape when she recounted a very trying class: She’d asked her young student point blank, her voice full of frustration for both parties, “Why you no practice?” and “Why you crying?” 

These have become favorite exclamations for our little group of MFA classmates. It's funny how the expression of frustration about the very real challenge of getting students to practice and to find intrinsic motivation has become a source of humor for us. Misery loves company, but more important, life is what you make of it: Make lemonade from lemons! And students, go practice! (That includes me. I'll be going now ...)