Michelle Cottle is on to something here...

An A for Effort? Talk About a Lousy Idea:

"Alternatively, now might be a good time to revisit my dream of becoming a concert pianist. I've never had much of an ear for music, but I bet if I quit my day job and worked at it really, really hard--or at least showed up at all my lessons and did the homework--someone would eventually reward my 'excellence.'"