Kaga-sensei, thank you for all your years of dedication and best wishes for a fun and fulfilling retirement! The lessons you taught in the classroom can only be rivaled by those you taught outside of it. There are countless stories, but one moment in particular shines brightly in my memory.
I visited you during office hours to talk about my upcoming study abroad at Kansai Gaidai. I was feeling incredibly anxious because I was afraid of embarrassing myself or offending someone else. Almost immediately you said, “Even if you use the wrong words or your grammar sounds funny, people will still be able to feel the warmth of your intentions.”
This small moment helped to clarify something that I had never realized could be a strength. I returned to it countless times during my study abroad and over the many years I spent as a qualitative market researcher. It gave me confidence to interview hundreds of people, across all different walks of life, about topics as serious as end-of-life planning and as inconsequential as which yogurt they preferred.
Your kindness, generosity, and humor have touched countless lives, and I’m incredibly grateful that our paths crossed at Carleton.