After learning to speak German, my confidence increased tenfold. German
was very difficult to learn, and sometimes I wanted to stop and give up, but I
kept on making mistakes, and finally the day came, and I was speaking German.
Why didn’t I quit? Because of my very low-skill job in the motor pool, driving
vehicles, I was motivated to continue learning German. The US Air Force hadn’t
trained me or given me a skill that was usable out of the military. Not wanting
to waste four year in the US Air Force without learning something, I decided to
attend as much school as possible and get a degree at the expense of the US Air
Force. That was my original thinking until I learned to speak German. The
language exposed me to so many new real-life adventures that I didn’t attend
anymore classes. I learned something of value from every contact that was made
with the German people and their culture. I was a friend to Americans who
couldn’t speak German and a friend of Germans who couldn’t speak English. My
social life benefited the most from my learning German. Learning helps to build
confidence and success.