Olga Smolianinova | Business Informatics & AI student

When I moved to Germany, I told my host family (through Google Translate) that I wanted to speak German like a native within a year.

No one believed me.

At first, I sounded like a little kid. I mixed up words, asked people how to say the simplest things, and made mistakes in almost every conversation. People laughed. Sometimes I laughed too.

Looking back, I wasn’t embarrassing myself because I was failing.

I was embarrassing myself because I was trying.

If I had been too afraid to look stupid, I would never have passed that exam a year later. And I definitely wouldn’t still be hearing, years later, “Your German is incredible.” I worked for that.

So that’s why I’ll never make fun of someone for being a beginner. I’ll never laugh at someone who’s starting something new.

A blog.
A business.
A new language.
A different career.

In fact, I’ll cheer for them, because I know what that stage feels like.

Because every person we admire today was once brave enough to be a beginner.