As a young girl in Hong Kong, artist Laishan Mui Ito got into a bad bus accident before an important piano recital. After over a month in the hospital, she wasn’t able to practice. But the date was already booked and her teacher told her she had to attend, even if it meant showing up at the grand recital hall underprepared and dressed in a hospital gown.
“The kids are all preppy, and they’re staring at me, like, what is this girl doing?” Mui Ito told the Courier. “That kind of stuck with me…I did pass, but I didn’t really feel like I owned it or did my best…I didn’t continue my piano lessons from there.”
