I totally agree with you, especially when you said that 'hard work never goes in vain'. I was absolutely terrified before starting my 1st year at university since I was about to take up a double specialization (English - Italian) and while I could easily coppe with English, I knew close to nothin in Italia. I started learning a little bit during the summer holiday after having successfully passed my final exams at school, but, still, what I managed to learn was hardly enough to make myself understood as a tourist on a city-break :).
Gradually, as I started attending the courses, I began to realise how similar this language really is to my native language (Romanian). I devoted between 2 and 4 hours to studying Italian every day and by the end of the first semester I managed to pass all but one exam with the maximum grade.
Failure comes out of fear, fear of disappointing yourself and others. But you can counteract this negative feeling with ambition and hard-work.