Japanese Professor Tamako Ratliff began teaching at Eckerd College in the fall semester of 2023. She has made a monumental impact on her students, inspiring many to continue to study Japanese beyond Eckerd College's language requirement. It is clear that she is passionate about teaching and cares greatly for her students, which can easily be seen by sitting in on even five minutes of one of her classes. In Spring semester 2024, in only her second semester at Eckerd, Ratliff took over teaching all 101 and 102 level clases during Professor Adachi's sebatical, taking on a larger work load to help support the school when they needed her. Due to recent budget cuts, Eckerd College has decided not to renew the contacts of many beloved professors, Tamako Ratliff included. If Ratliff's contract is not renewed, not only would we lose a dedicated professor, but there is also a strong possibility that we would lose the Japanese language minor at Eckerd.