I KNOW!!! Automatic drivers will tell you that you just punch the gas. And this is true. But if you will allow me to emphasize the dynamics we, as stick drivers, are speaking of to any who might not have experienced the difference...

We want to pass on the highway, yes? Shift, dropping into lower gear and give it the gas! It is one of the times you will truly know how much it kicks *** to drive a stick!! The power is there already -- built up to obey your command that instant.
YOU are telling the car what you want. DIRECTLY. NOW.
You are in direct communication. No delay.

No waiting for your gas pedal to nudge awake a slow-witted translator to the transmission. In fact, it's one of my big peeves with automatics. That pause waiting for the transmission to clue in. It may not seem like much to those used to automatics, but to a stick driver, it feels like an eternity. (And passing on an uphill, the difference in response is enormous!)

Stick shift wins on passing. Hands down! It is the BEST!!!!!

To the OP -- it is worth learning stick for so many reasons. An additional set of skills, being ready for any sort of occassion or emergency if the available car is a stick. You are ready for anything!
(Not to even mention better gas mileage, better handling, lower price, easier repair....)

P.s. Maybe this sounds weird, but I can feel "at one" with a car while driving. I cannot imagine having this feeling with an automatic. Too uninvolved and unresponsive for that. JMO.)