Oof. I'm so sorry to hear that. The sounds you discovered on your own were the start of your own personal vocabulary. That's you following your ear and following the pleasure of the sound itself. That's the most important part.

The technique is important, but it's often for nothing if it's not in support of a distinct musical voice.

Exactly my experience in music school.

I've switched to guitar on my own initiative, started jamming, playing in bands, composing my own music with friends - and it was such fun.

Never touched piano since then.

Reading through other comments here makes me think that as humans we suck at teaching music to children.

Same for me - 8 years of piano with regular exams, gave it up in my teens because I didn't want to play just classical stuff, and all that practicing was just plain boring. Haven't touched a keyboard since (and have carefully forgotten all that music theory).

I did pick up an old classical guitar at a girlfriend's house and started on Simon and Garfunkel and Beatles, and have been playing guitar (and bass, mandolin, slide guitar and lap steel) for the past 45 years, so the music was there!

Having brought up 3 kids, it is sometimes hard to know when to encourage them to push through on something and when to let it die.