The gist nov dec issue

The Gist
A Student-Generated Journal of Written
Expression
Issue #3 November-December, 2020
By English as a Foreign Language
Teaching Major
Third Year Cohort
Prof. Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós
UNA Nicoya
TEFL Academic Professor

The Gist
The Gist is synonymous to essence, core,
nucleus or substance. It is an academic,
student-generated monthly journal of
written expression at the National
University of Costa Rica, Nicoya Campus
as part of the Workshop in Written
Expression.
The Gist: a student-generated journal of written expression. UNA Nicoya. November-December 2020 2
Breathtaking beauty of the Sandal or Carao Tree in Guanacaste

Embrace the New Year
with Love, Passion and
Hope
As 2021 approaches, find
inspiration around you, and
motivation within yourself
to be all that you can be.

Our Team
Contributors: English as a Foreign Language Teaching Major Third Year
Cohort and Guest Writers
Editor in Chief: Prof. Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós
Course: Workshop in Written Expression (LM420)
Themes: various themes and topics addressed
Disclaimer:
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various student
authors in this monthly journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions,
beliefs and viewpoints of the whole UNA community at all its different
campuses.
This journal is rather a contextualized written expression project for non-
native students of English in the Workshop in Written Expression at UNA
Nicoya, and its goal is to empower students to project and strengthen their
writing skills as accurately and professionally as possible. There may be
linguistic inaccuracies which will serve to embark on a continuous
improvement process.
The Gist: a student-generated journal of written expression. UNA Nicoya 2020 4
Aerial view of the Colonial San Blas Temple and Nicoya’s Central Park taken by a drone.

Inside this issue
• Education and Student Life on Campus
• Mental Health and Wellness
• Guest Writers, Economy and Consumerism
• Christmas and a New Prosperous New Year
• Technology and the Digital World
• Gender and Human Rights
• Nature, Architectural Richness and Environmental Awareness

Education and Student Life
on Campus
• A Team’s Journey in the English Language (11 to 16)
By María Fernanda Solís Venegas and Mariana Cabrera Matarrita
• How to Deal with College Life While Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic (17 to 21)
By Alejandra Godoy Aguirre
• The Reasons for Reading (22 to 27)
By Hilary Dalissa Ruiz Solera and Dencel Yasir Hernández Carrillo
• Introducing Effect+ “A Global Citizenship Education Workshop for Local Impact (28 to 31)
By Melissa Viales Guevara and Rolando Matarrita Brenes
• Chasing a Dream Studying Away from Home. (32 to 34)
By Elieth Torres Gómez, Andrey Álvarez Hernández and Johnder Villagra Guevara

A Team’s Journey in the English
Language
By
María Fernanda Solís Venegas
and
Mariana Cabrera Matarrita
Keywords: English, challenge, student, teacher, language, goals

A Team’s Journey in the English Language
How important is it to keep the collected memories during almost
five years of instruction? How important is it to share those memories
with people who were there to create those moments? Well, this is an
article that tries to recall the most important experiences as students of
a second language, which is English, but those experiences were
created together! This article was written by Mariana and María
Fernanda who have been very close friends since we started the
diploma degree back in 2016. From that moment on, we have been a
nice team.
Are you a student? If yes, how many times have you ever considered
giving up? How many times have you felt that it was too much? We as
students know those feelings very well. Studying is not an easy job!
However, if you have a goal to reach, it is important to keep working
hard because someday it will come true! Therefore, through these lines,
we want to give you some tools, advice and personal experiences that
you can use as an example of a real life for students and how the words
of these experiences that we write here have a powerful meaning in our
lives because as students and people with daily tasks out of classrooms,
want you to be a successful person with enough encourage to learn this
beautiful language.
A Brief Summary about Us:
• Hello! My name is María Fernanda Solís Venegas. I am 23 years
old, and I am a student from the National University of Costa Rica,
Nicoya Campus. I live in Corralillo, Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, but
I was born in Heredia. I moved from Heredia to Guanacaste since I was
a child, several years ago, and I have always thought that it was a
blessing in my life because I really love this province and all the
experiences that I have had here such as this journey in the English
language. I consider myself to be as a really shy girl, but my classmates
and friends who know me well know that I am so friendly and funny!
My responsibility as a student is very serious for me, so I try to be as
much organized as possible with all the assignments.
• Hi!! My name is Mariana Cabrera Matarrita. I was born in August,
1991 in the province of Limón, as part of a time when the Caribbean
area faced terrible situations. Limon’s earthquake was one of the
worst disasters that hit Costa Rica during that year. According to my
mother’s memories, she gave birth in a hospital room that was almost
destroyed by this tragedy on a rainy and windy day. 29 years after, I
live in Caballito, Nicoya and I find myself trying to become a
professional in this society even though I had my own doubts about it.
Studying at the university was a goal that I always had in my mind
since I was in high school; however, it was difficult for me to be
admitted, but I did it in 2016 after many years of trying. I have a lot of
sense of responsibility and commitment when I study though
sometimes it is challenging because I am a housewife, too. I have 5
years living with a partner, but it is a challenge that I am glad to face
because I know this is for my future.

Experience as Students of English:
María Fernanda: I have been studying English for a long time because I
have studied a bit of English since I was in elementary school. For that
reason, I have always enjoyed learning this language; however, my
love for the English language started when I was in the last year of high
school, but I totally did not know that English was going to be the
subject that was going to choose as a career and major. I fell in love
with English when I entered the university. From that moment on,
which was back in 2016, I knew that I had made the right decision by
choosing English as my major. I took two years pursuing the diploma
undergraduate degree, and in 2018, I started the English as a Foreign
Language Major. Now, I am in the third year of this career, and I have
been working really hard because I wish to finish it successfully next
year. Throughout the time that I have studied English at the university,
I have met a lot of nice people, including classmates, professors and
people from other majors, areas and countries. I have had a really
pleasant and enriching experience as a student because I have learned
a lot, not only about the English language but also about life! I really
think that studying another language is an open door of possibilities
and opportunities to grow academically, culturally and humanistically.
Mariana: English has been one of my strengths even when sometimes it is very
complex and underrated, perhaps because many people think this language is about
learning grammar rules and structures or speaking it fluently, but the truth is that it
is beyond that; it is about comprehending where this language comes from or the
history of the sounds, phonetics, and the difference between one thing from
another. The National University of Costa Rica has educated me on many different
things and aspects such as languages, history, culture, recycling, environment etc.;
but one of the parts that it has taught me is to discover my own abilities, those that I
thought I did not have, and prove to myself that I can offer a lot to society from
many perspectives.
The diploma undergraduate program was an incredible experience even though it
was a very short career, but there was a lot of learning at that time. To know foreign
people and hear them to speak and produce those natural sounds was intense
because I had never had much contact with native speakers.
On the other hand, the English as a Foreign Language Teaching Major has been
demanding to me because each year it is more difficult than the last, and it has
brought some complications but enriching experiences and understanding about this
language. Teaching a second language was not part of my future plans because one
of my biggest objectives since childhood had been ecology and all related to nature,
but now I know I can combine all these studies since English has become a very
useful tool for tourism, and Costa Rica, being a country rich in nature and tourism as
its main source of income, this language is strictly necessary. Likewise, learning how
to teach has been innovating in my life because I was always related to teaching
since some people from my family have been teachers and this is sometimes
exhausting, but at the same time satisfactory and fills me with emotions.

Expectations for the Future:
María Fernanda: For me, it is really hard to establish expectations for
the future, and I have never liked to do it because I consider the present
as the most important that we need to appreciate. However, if we work
hard in the present, we are building our future in some way, so I can say
that I really wish to see myself in the future finishing my degree and
working as a teacher. Besides, I really wish to learn a lot to be able to
apply my knowledge the best way I can to help others. I have always said
that the job of a teacher is wonderful; teachers share their knowledge
the best way they can, and they make sure that others learn what they
learned some time, so that is great! I would like to be able to share what I
have learned someday as well.
Mariana: I could never imagine myself studying this career and much
less work as a teacher. However, now, I can visualize myself as a teacher
with good vibes and attitudes helping students to get knowledge and
prepare them for their future and lives. I have to accept that I am fearful
about this because it is a great responsibility that I have to face, and I
know that everyone who studies and prepares themselves at the
university have the same fear since we must face the world after
finishing it. Nevertheless, at the beginning it will be difficult, but as time
goes by I know I will improve and learn step by step. I would like to be a
teacher that students rely on and trust without fear, I would like students
to fall in love with the language and put into practice in their daily lives.
Tips and Advice:
There are certain pieces of advice that we, as students, can give to other students, and
these are based on our experience and our research and knowledge that we have acquired
during this time of instruction. For example:
 Always remember your goal when you started the career because that is the daily
energy.
 Try to be very organized on your tasks as student because there is no other
opportunity to do things better.
 Enjoy the little things: each moment during the career is valuable, believe it!
 Everything is not easy at first and during the process; you need to work hard.
 If you really want to learn, keep an open mind to new knowledge.
 Each day is an opportunity to learn something new, so take advantage of every day
during the learning process.
 Practice your knowledge as much as possible; (it does not matter if you talk only to
yourself sometimes).
 You need to know your study and learning style that best works for you during the
learning process.
 Use strategies for learning that help you to understand things better. Everybody is
different, so there is not correct or wrong strategy to use; the most important is that it
works for you.
 Pessimism is your worst enemy because only you have the power to carry on.
 Don’t be afraid to socialize during classes because your classmates will be your
second family.
 It is very important to do assignments in a peaceful area being at home.
 Try to participate in activities with foreigners because this is the opportunity to live
and feel the language; it doesn’t matter if your grammar is not quite right.
 Finally, just enjoy it! Enjoy your learning process and be happy with it because if you
enjoy it, it will be easier and more valuable!

Our Memories in
Pictures
Note: The third girl that appears in the pictures is Alejandra. She
was our classmate during the diploma undergraduate program, and
she is our best friend. We were a very close teamwork and friends
from the very beginning of this journey in 2016, so this article
would be incomplete without her. We have kept in touch since we
finished the program in 2017. Therefore, she gave us her
permission to publish photos with her presence in this article.
This is our trip to the National
Museum (2017).
Presentation about countries and
culture (2017).
Hard Work for “Puertas Abiertas”
(2017).
A normal day at the University during
break time (2017).
Life Skills’ Fair Presentation (2016).
This is our graduation from the Diploma
Undergraduate Program (2018).

In conclusion, we would like for you reading these
words, to feel motivated in some way and continue
working hard to reach your dreams. This is not an
attempt to self-portrait our lives; this is an
opportunity that we have by writing this article in
the Written Expression Workshop that we take to
share with others what we have learned and we are
still learning from this journey that we have
experienced together as learners of a second
language, which is English. Thank you so much for
reading and remember to keep working hard!
Works Cited
• Khan Academy. (2020). Tips for Effective, Efficient
Studying. Khan Academy. Retrieved from:
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat/new-
sat-tips-planning/new-sat-hot-to-prep/a/tips-for-
effective-efficient-studying
• Strauss, V. (2013). Nelson Mandela on the Power of
Education. The Washington Post. Retrieved from:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-
sheet/wp/2013/12/05/nelson-mandelas-famous-
quote-on-education/
• TeachThought Staff. (2012). 21 Simple Ideas To
Improve Students Motivation. Retrieved from:
https://www.teachthrought.com/pedagogy/21-
simpe-ideas-to-improve-students-motivation/

How to Deal with College Life while Facing the
COVID-19 Pandemic
By Alejandra Godoy Aguirre
Keys words: changes, struggle, surrender, effort, sacrifice

Our lives began to change since with the first case of COVID-19 that
was registered in our country for the first time in March 2020.
Immediately, our government presented strict measures to take care of
this dangerous disease, among which were closing restaurants, hotels,
schools among other places. The public and private universities were
not far behind, it also complied with government orders, and as of
March 31 they started with virtual classes or remote presence learning
as UNA defined it for all campuses. This decision was a complete
change for both educators and students because teachers and
professors had to change the study plan and students had to adhere to
changes made. Actually, for me at that time it was the best decision
because I had a lot of panic, because in those days the first cases had
already appeared in Nicoya, and I honestly did not want to go to the
university because my parents are at risk and I have a baby, but as the
weeks passed as a student with virtual classes, many circumstances
arose. In this document I will tell a little about the strengths,
weaknesses, threats and opportunities that I have experienced dealing
with my university life in the midst of the pandemic.
How to Deal with College Life while Facing the
COVID-19 Pandemic

Within the strengths of dealing with university life in the middle of this
pandemic, I could mention that I have been able to organize my time
to carry out my five courses enrolled. Elsevier (2020) says that
"Just because we are at home does not mean that we must be in front
of the books or the screen of our laptop / PC all day. Establishing a fixed
schedule, a time for each task can help you" (Para.11, Translated by
author).
I very much agree with Elsevier because in my case I established the
night hours undertake academic. I devoted from 7:00 p.m. until 3:00
or 4:00 in the morning; however, it was very tiring because a few hours
later I had to look after my daughter. During these hours and
depending on the assignment or project, I was able to finish two or
three tasks and I advance one or two more. This is how I have been
able to study. During the day it is too difficult for me to study or do
homework because eight people live in my house and there is a lot of
noise. Despite the latter, I also took advantage of the hours when my
daughter fell asleep during the day and used that time for my studies.
It forces me to use those hours since during daytime it is rather hectic
and thus complicated.

Despite the fact that I have that strength, I also have a great weakness
which is not receiving the necessary help of my family to fully take
part in my virtual classes which does not allow me to be fully
concentrated in a virtual class. Elsevier, (2020) mentions that “it is
vital for everyone to be involved in your new state. Everyone should
know your routines, schedule, even the meetings scheduled to try to
facilitate academic reconciliation and your domestic life. Reach
agreements with them, especially if you have children, is key to making
this experience a success” (para. 16, Translated by author)
Unfortunately in my case it is not like that, and in most cases the only
person who helps me with my daughter when I have synchronous
class sessions, is my dad, and my daughter is at an age when she
needs to experiment, and thanks to God she is very restless; however,
sometimes I definitely cannot attend classes or I do it but not in the
way that I should. In spite of that and only having the full support of
my dad from time to time and that of my mom, I have been able to
continue with my work and try to be very punctual and at night I view
the class again to better understand the subject. I honestly consider
this as my greatest weakness. Sometimes I can organize and put my
daughter to sleep during those hours but that implies that at night she
goes to bed late, and I lose hours to complete my course assignments,
projects or tasks.
It has been five years now, and the excess of homework has led me
to experience stress and anxiety becoming these my threats along
this process.
In a single week I have had to compose and turn in an essay, a 30-
minute video, a presentation, take a quiz and take an one-hour
synchronous class. Just Imagine the stress that this causes me
because I only have 7 or 8 hours to complete and advance tasks.
The effect of this is reflected the next day with strong pain in my
back and tension, also being awake so late causes anxiety.
Oftentimes, I bite my nails and be trying food every so often.
According to Leighton and Dogra (2014), they assure that there are
four possible explanations of mental illness have been identified in
the research literature: dangerousness; attribution of responsibility;
belief that mental illness is chronic with a poor prognosis; disruption
of normal social interactions based on social rules. (p.04)

I definitely identify myself with all four explanations, so I consider stress
and anxiety are mental problems, because these concepts are created in
our minds. For example, during the day on many occasions I have not
had time to study, and I constantly spend my time thinking about what I
have to do, and this leads me to wonder whether I will have time or not.
As a last and most important point at this time, I have had the
opportunity to make some money through my cell phone. I have to
divide my day in taking care of my baby girl, doing trades, studying and
generating income for my family. As I said earlier, there are 8 members
in my home, and only my father and I contribute economic support.
Unfortunately, right now it is difficult to work, my father works selling
wood and since the first cases appeared, no one wants to buy wood.
So I organized myself with my mom and my dad to sell vinaigrettes in
the community so as not to expose ourselves as much. I also sell
shoes, clothes and other items on request, and it has gone quite well,
and with my daughter's dad we sell shrimp. According to Elsevier
(2020) "self-discipline is the key. Every day new challenges will come in
the form of distractions, messages on social networks, meetings,
unavoidable deliveries and everything will depend on our own
organization. I truly agree with that affirmation, because this method
of receiving classes has helped me a lot to organize my time in
everything and have discipline when doing all things.
In conclusion, I think this change has been very difficult for everyone,
but it has also brought us benefits. If the opportunity existed, I would
enroll up to 7 courses even though it requires triple effort, but I also
know that, at some point, I will be rewarded. Virtual classes or remote
presence learning also help us to reinforce the contents that
professors provide us. Many times we have to look for videos or add
information to understand the subject matter. It is important to
mention that the pandemic causes us to go to extremes because we
think that this is going to get worse. All in all, I think we have done the
job.

The Reasons for Reading
By Hilary Dalissa Ruiz Solera
&
Dencel Yasir Hernández Carrillo
Key words: knowledge, mental health, problem solving, learning, benefits

Since the beginning of the history of writing, people
have wondered why reading is important, and it is incredibly
important for a variety of reasons. Reading is fundamental for
people to function in today's society how much stress you
have in your personal relationships or the countless other
issues that a person can face in daily life. Reading can help
you because a good reading can transport us to a different
reality as well as an engaging article will distract and keep you
in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and
allowing you to relax and learn.
Reading is a very complex process that involves
knowledge and culture in people's lives. According to
Utevsky, M & Hervey, Sheena (n.d), “We are dealing with
one of the most complex phenomena in experience: the
reading process is complex; learning to read involves
complex processes; the fact that this tends to happen in
school presents complex challenges; and the cultural
determinants of literacy in the school and community are
complex.” (Para. 6, Generation Ready.com). The more you
read, the more knowledge you will have any of your
preferences feel comfortable at the time of reading.

In addition, reading can help you to improve your health,
mentally and as a related aspect, physically. It is well known that
reading is a distracting and stress reduction tool. According to
MHFA England (2018), “Losing yourself in a good book has been
shown to reduce your levels of stress. Research by Ph.D. David
Lewis showed that reading as little as six minutes a day can reduce
stress levels by 60% by reducing your heart rate, easing muscle
tension and altering your state of mind” (Para. 5). The stress is
related to some health problems such as backache or headache, or
even it can cause worse problems. In addition, it can help to escape
your reality and avoid an excess of attention to life problems that
can provoke tension and mental health problems which, sooner or
later, will affect you (even at an elderly adulthood).
According to the information provided by MHFA
England (2018), “Participating in cognitive activities, such as
reading over your lifetime (both early and later in life) was
shown to slow down memory loss when compared to those
who didn’t participate in mentally stimulating activities.”
(Para. 9). As a result, your mental well-being and health will
be more ensured if you read.

As a summary, it is important to remember that reading has
many benefits for people. In the acquisition of knowledge, it is the
best way to learn or get important information that can help you
solve problems. Regarding health and idle activity, reading can
ensure a better mental health and reduce stress and other related
problems. Something important about reading is that it has the
possibility to improve our state of mind, since sometimes we find it
hard to feel fine during the day. Things are not always perfect and
that is fine. Finally, in the midst of the circumstances we can find a
light that leads us to find one or more reasons to appreciate reading.

POEM
Through the Darkness
You must think that you have nothing.
You must think that you are lost,
But look at the sky when the rain stops,
And you will realize that the light of the sun or the moon is back
again.
You have to remember that it never goes anywhere. Even if you
cannot see it, the sun and moon are always be there.
Do not be scared when the light seems to disappear even if it seems as
if there is no door to go outside of your jail. You will be able to go
beyond your challenges if you make an effort and believe.
The sun always rises, the moon is always your trip partner, and there
is always an exit signal from whatever you are going through.

References
Utevsky, M & Hervey, Sheena. Generation Reading (n.d) Reading as a Complex, Problem-Solving Activity.
Retrieved in November 2020 from: http s://www.generationready.com/reading-as-a-complex-
problem-solving-activity/
MHFA England.(2018) Why Reading can be good for mental health. Retrieved in November 2020 from:
https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/blog/reading-good-mental-health/

Effect+ “A Global
Citizenship Education
Workshop for local impact”
By
Melissa Viales Guevara
and
Rolando Matarrita Brenes
Key words: education, interculturalism, multiculturalism, altruism, communication, problem solving

Effect+ training events provide engaging and
focused education experiences to
promote cultural exchange and encounters
even without mobility. These trainings are
an effective way to organize local events
which empower young community leaders
with skills needed to effect positive change.
With Effect+ we aim to offer teenagers a first
contact with intercultural learning and
global citizenship education which are
transformative, lifelong pursuits that involve
both
formal learning and practical experience.
EFFECT+ CONTEXT AND KEY ELEMENTS
What is Effect+?
Effect+ Global Citizenship Education
Workshop is an event that gathers
teenagers to
reflect on the issues affecting the world
and how they can work together to help
advance the United Nation’s Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Through
interactive talks and collaborative hands-
on activities, participants get the chance
to
explore their own role as global citizens
and changemakers.
Introducing Effect+ Training

How does AFS impact intercultural education?
Being interculturally competent or culturally fluent are key skills in
an increasingly
interconnected and globalized world and crucial to tackle the
challenges of our times and
advance the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). AFS learning
programs also support key education goals for the 21st century
beyond intercultural competence.
We educate global citizens and the world leaders of
tomorrow, and help
them to:
• Broaden perspectives about themselves and the world
around them
• Learn and respect differences and believe a diverse
world is a stronger and more
interesting place
• Communicate and collaborate across cultures in a
sensitive and mindful way
• Appreciate other cultures and encourage others to be
open to new ideas, attitudes
and traditions
• Build skills to use in STEM and other key areas by using
critical thinking and
problem solving activities
• Become part of the AFS global community to build
bridges across cultures and
bring diverse communities together

Reference
AFS Intercultural Programs. (November, 2020)
Educating Active Global Citizens to Make a
Difference. Retrieved in November 2020 from
https://afs.org/education/
(2017). A Global Citizenship
Education Workshop for
local impact. AFS. Retrieved

Chasing a Dream: Studying
Away from Home
By
Elieth Torres Gómez
Andrey Álvarez Hernández
Johnder Villagra Guevara
Key words: life, student, dream, study, Nicoya

Sometimes we need to leave the comfort of our lives to find a
new horizon. Sometimes we do not find exactly what we want
even in our own communities, and we realize that the only exit is
to move to the unknown. This is the story of Johnder Villagra, a
student from the English as a Foreign Language Teaching Major in
at the National University of Costa Rica, Nicoya Campus. He lives
in the province of Limón, but for some circumstances, he applied
to the campus in Nicoya where he was admitted. The decision he
made was just the beginning of his journey, and the challenge
began in 2018 when he found himself immersed in a different
environment and without knowing anyone.
Undoubtedly, he did not imagine how difficult it would be to live
without his family. But, as soon as the weeks passed, the new
reality started being more comfortable, Johnder met a lot people
who made his life experience easier. Consequently, if he had not
decided to take the risk of studying away from home, he would
not have experienced this incredible trip.
“When one decides to leave the nest, one will face different
situations along the road.” Indeed, Johnder has faced difficulties
during this period since he decided to leave his home and family
to start a new beginning alone off the beaten track.
As we know being in a new place where you don't know anyone
is very difficult because your friends are far from you. However,
one must resort to having a great personality and great
charisma. This made it easier to make friends and start feeling a
little more comfortable in a new home. Additionally, the lack of
money can be a big challenge for people who leave their homes
to study since many times the scholarship provided by the
university is not enough to cover all the necessary expenses but
still this situation did not stop this great student.
How was the experience of studying
in another place away from home?

One of the most common obstacles that we have in our lives when
we decide to leave our families is the fear of being independent
since we have always been with them. It is very difficult for people
to do that because they will not receive support from their families
when they need it most. But this young man from Guápiles proved
to have s a great attitude and his desire to become a great
professional in the future being his greatest motivation to continue
striving every day to achieve the dreams. Regardless of how
difficult be a situation may be, we can always overcome it if we are
perseverant and work hard towards attaining goals. He truly is a
clear example of it! Sometimes we feel that we are not strong
enough, but when we take risks, and we see that it was possible
then we understand that we are able to do whatever we want. The
most important thing is to never give up!
This is only one example of a student who decided to chase his
dream. Sometimes, we do not feel prepared, or it is difficult to
leave our comfort zone, but in order to succeed, we need to
think outside the box. For sure, the adaptation process to a new
environment with unknown people is an abrupt and tough task.
Then, that is when it is important to keep contact with your
family in case you feel a little blue.
Fortunately, Johnder was able to overcome all the obstacles that
were presented in the first days, weeks and probably months, so
feel encouraged to take advantage of this story of a college
student who left his house in pursuit of a dream. Finally, being a
student at UNA Nicoya has been a great experience since
professors, students and people who work in the administrative
area make college a lifelong and memorable experience that will
remain with us forever.

Mental Health and Wellness
• Optimism as a Great Source to Face COVID-19 (36 to 39)
By Sergio Barboza Villagra
• Breast Cancer (40 to 43)
By Melina López Obando and Gustavo Rojas Jiménez
• Three Top Values to Thank our Parents (44 to 47)
By Raúl Fonseca Rosales and Luis Fernando Mendoza Centeno
• Psychological and Physical Problems in Young People: Risk Factor (48 to 54)
By Gabriel Estefan Chaves Chaves

Optimism as a Great Source to Face
COVID-19
Key words: mental health, optimism, tranquility, attitude, behavior

COVID-19
Optimism is a way of thinking that helps to face among so many
adversities that the life cycle is in charge of teaching. In
contrast, good spirits coupled with perseverance help transform
heartbreak into tranquility. As a result, optimistic thinking brings
many health and wellness benefits aside from people's behavior
in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, optimism can be
seen as an indispensable tool for life, positive thinking will help
to face a happy life and something very important, avoiding
health problems.
Optimists tend to experience fewer stress-causing illnesses that
can best interpret and manage the problems that have been
presented in recent months by COVID-19, and this is because
optimists view negative events as circumstances that they can
be overcome in an easy way without causing problems in your
mental health. As a result, with this new virus, some pessimists
suffer from different causes of illnesses, such as stress or phobia
when they feel powerless to disease and allow themselves to be
negatively influenced by society, causing them many problems
since they think very negatively. However, the optimistic person
obtains many facilities to cope with the impact of this new virus.
In the case of strong emotional reactions, people may
also ignore important numeric information such as
probabilities19 and a problem’s scope20. Negative
framing captures attention, especially for people who
are less mathematically skilled. The media usually
report on COVID-19 negatively—for example, by
reporting the number of people infected and those
who die—as opposed to those who recover or
experience only mild symptoms. This may increase
negative emotion and sensitize people to otherwise
neglected risks for themselves or others. Research is
needed to determine whether a more positive frame
could educate the public and relieve negative emotions
while increasing public health behaviors. ( Boggio et al,
2019.p,4).
This can be taken as a great example and it is
something that is causing many problems in people
because pessimistic people believe everything negative
and together with this information, which are negative
projections that affect their health and their living
environment.

COVID-19
On the other hand, those who are happy with a more optimistic perspective
face reality much more strongly tend to worry less. It can be clarified that
optimists face circumstances that are beneficial to their health and reduce or
eliminate these stressors give a result of the abolition of all bad information.
“Presumably, individuals who are high in dispositional optimism are more
predisposed to use adaptive coping strategies to deal with life stressors,
more directly addressing problems, and persisting in goal attainment when
obstacles are faced”(Thomas et al, 2011.p,867).
It is also important to know that being optimistic has benefits.
Since optimists are generally positive about day-to-day events, a connection
can be found between physical and mental well-being and they may have
more resistant attitudes when talking about stress.
Nowadays, this new virus has paralyzed societies and therefore the behavior
of teenagers. Since there is burnout in carrying out the assigned tasks and
many adolescents are collapsing due to the high levels of stress they are
subjected to, however, the optimism in these young people has helped them
and generated many benefits by being able to feel capable of getting ahead
and expect much more difficult things to overcome.
"Optimism was found to contribute to adolescents' well-
being by buffering the effects of stress as well as in
promoting healthful coping and engagement in positive
behaviors“ (Huan et al,2006.p,536).
To face COVID-19, you must think positively because this
can help us resolve many emotional burdens and the key to
everything is to have an optimistic view of life. As a result, it
will give us many benefits and above all good mental health.
Until now, the prediction of the benefits of COVID-19 is
something that in theory is very difficult to do, but although
it is true, the optimistic person has many advantages to feel
that everything is very good and is not frustrated by
thinking of negative things. To conclude, optimism can be
classified as a therapy for health and that helps strengthen
our lives and improve our lives.

Optimism as a Great
Source to Face COVID-19
References
Boggio, P., Capraro, V., Drury J. and Ellemers V. (2019). Using
Social and Behavioral Science to Support COVID 19 Pandemic
Response. Nature Human Behavior. Retrieved from http DOI:
10.31234/osf.io/y38m9s://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z
Huan, V. S., Yeo, L. S., Ang, R. P., & Chong, W. H. (2006). The
Influence of Dispositional Optimism and Gender on
Adolescents’ Perception of Academic Stress. Adolescence,
41(163), 533–546. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.una.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer
/pdfviewer?vid=15&sid=27a56134-66fc-4397-b5bf-
ef8744c64b03%40sdc-v-sessmgr01
Thomas, J. L., Britt, T. W., Odle, D. H., & Bliese, P. D. (2011).
Dispositional optimism buffers combat veterans from the
negative effects of warzone stress on mental health symptoms
and work impairment. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(9),
866–880. https://doi-org.una.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/jclp.20809
39

Breast Cancer
By Melina López Obando and Gustavo Rojas Obando
Key words: breast cancer, prevention, early detection, support

Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the
breast grow out of control. Those cells may also
travel to places in your body where they are not
usually found. When that happens, the cancer is
called metastatic. Breast cancer usually begins
either in your glands that make milk (called
lobular carcinoma), or the ducts that carry it to
the nipple (called ductal carcinoma). The cancer
may grow and invade tissue around your breast,
such as your skin or chest wall.
Breast cancer of more mortality among women
worldwide, many women have to deal with
difficult medical treatments looking for a cure of
this dangerous cancer. Even though the medicine
and technology is advance, the prevention and
early detection continue being the most
important weapons to avoid cancer. Like other
countries, Costa Rica possesses high rates of
incidence and mortality for breast cancer this
registers 87% survival being the country with the
best record in the Central and South American
region, which represent good news for women in
the country. The Ministry of Public Health makes
a big effort to invest in high quality treatments
and equipment to help women who have to face
this illness. Breast cancer can occur in both men
and women, but it is far more common in women
and this is why this topic is so important.

Sometimes men are embarrassed about this topic
because they think it is something that cannot
happen to them but the reality is completely
different. This is something that can happen to
everyone in every age but currently the group of
highest impact are women between the ages of 45
and 60 making them more vulnerable because at this
age women are experimenting many changes in their
bodies.
Nowadays there are many prevention campaigns and
a special month (October) dedicated to speak about
it. In this month the main goal of the campaign is to
reinforce with information and support women who
are going through this painful process. In Costa Rica
by 2020, the CCSS has invested over 9 billion colones
(over US$15 million) in the prevention program
around the country and this increase in October
where the prevention becomes a priority in the
territory. Every year 1,200 new cases of breast cancer
are detected in Costa Rica and the CCSS hopes to
improve individual breast health monitoring
practices with the prevention campaigns. Sometime
breast cancer can be silent and difficult to be
detected but there are things you can do that might
lower your risk. This can be especially helpful for
women with certain risk factors for breast cancer,
such as having a strong family history or certain gene
changes.

If you have babies, breast feed them. Exercise at
least 30 minutes, at least 5 days a week and
maintain a healthy weight. In your 20s and 30s,
have a clinical breast exam (CBE) by a health care
professional at least every three years. Another
advice is to breast self-exam to feel that your
breast does not have any boss and in case you
feel something different, you have to go to doctor
immediately. In addition, if you have a family
history of breast cancer, talk to your health care
professional about genetic test. Know what is
normal for your breasts. Feel free and confident
to speak about anything that is happening with
your health and keep in track of the information
about cancer, it can save your life.

Three Top Values to Thank our Parents
By Raúl Fonseca Rosales and Luis Fernando Mendoza Centeno
Key words: values, thankfulness, respect, love, solidarity

Respect
Our parents are people who undoubtedly must be
considered the heroes in every family. They usually are the
base and foundation of the success of any individual due
to their efforts since the first days of life in children until
their last days. Then, we think that parents deserve to
receive thankfulness by their sons and daughters through
the main values that any person should offer to the
people who have given them their lives. These values are
respect, love and solidarity.
The first value that we must have in mind is to thank our
parents is respect. It includes respect for their way of
thinking, beliefs, likes, decisions and orientation. However,
this respect can be accompanied with agreements among
family members in order to create a nice environment at
home. Besides, the purpose of respecting parents is mainly
because every human being must be respected, but also
because parents mostly have the wisdom to guide a family.

Love Solidarity
The second value is love which is a strong
feeling to keep families united. It does not
matter if she/he is a single mother or father,
we should love them regardless of any
condition. Additionally, through this value we
can thank our parents, and also be in touch
with them in case they need any help. Here we
should make them feel proud and important
for their efforts that they have make to create
a lovely family and see their children grow to
become accomplished professionals in the
future.
The third value is the solidarity which means to
give a hand to our parents in different fields.
Some examples of solidarity that we can do are
help to handle their economic organization, plan
their vacations, invite them to some social
activities and do not cause them any problem.
Furthermore, we should remember that they
will need more attention while becoming older.

References
Ortega, D. (2015). EL RESPETO [Photograph]. WordPress. Retrieved in November 2020 from
https://minombreleonardo.wordpress.com/
R. (2016). 5o y 6o solidaridad I. Rossmar. Retrieved in November 2020 from
http://www3.gobiernodecanarias.org/medusa/ecoblog/rossmar/2016/10/05/5o-y-6o-solidaridad-i/
Y. (2016). El desarrollo del niño [Photograph]. Desacognitivo. Retrieved in November 2020 from
http://desacognitivo2016.blogspot.com/2016/12/

Psychological and Physical Problems in
Young People: Risk Factor
Key words: risk, social media, drugs, depression, anxiety

Psychological and Physical Problems in Young
People: Risk Factor
The deterioration of the mental health in young
people is a problem that society faces and has
increased over the years. The social pressure,
personal and affective relationships, the media
and so on, are some of the many factors that
generate mental problems. In fact, many
young people face mental problems such as
depression, anxiety, eating disorders, low self-
esteem, suicidal thoughts, among others.
Social Factor
It is one among many factors that
causes the most impact or influence on
the individual's life. During the growth
stage, the adolescent lives in a society
where people discriminate against
others due to their social status,
ethnicity, geographical location, or
economic position and among other
conditions. Social factors
psychologically influence in the change
that adolescents go through during
their growth. From child to adult,
individuals are affected even without
knowing it.

People: Risk Factor
Media and Technology
Most individuals in their free time use
their mobile devices, whether they are cell
phones, music players or video games,
among others. The constant use of such
devices can be detrimental to mental and
physical health. Today, social media
transmits hundreds of programs and
videos which can be a risk factor
influencing the behavior of the individual.
Using electronic devices more than 12
hours, which is not recommended, can
cause a sedentary lifestyle.

People: Risk Factor
At Home
When we talk about the family environment, it
is an essential part for the development or
growth of the adolescent. That means their
formation and fit as a person into the society,
this is constantly changing due to the
adaptation of parents who spend a lot of time
working. The constant exposure to
inappropriate videos can influence and awaken
the child's desire to imitate them. In addition,
they are already generating a problem of
disagreement and tension which must be
treated by parents in a good way to not
generate a negative development nor in their
moral formation or relationship behavior.

People: Risk Factor
Personal Relationships
This factor plays an important role of individuals behaviors and
interactions. That means that it could be influenced by family,
friendship and even love. Therefore, people should be more
careful with individuals around them. Many people who go out
in groups tend to follow what their peers do; for example, the
way they dress, people in common, trends and even actions.
Young people are often influenced to act and think incorrectly,
which could generate future problems in physical and mental
health.
In addition, due to the constant changes, many people show
depressed by not being able to fit in, resulting in more mental
problems such as the consumption of drugs, isolation, low self-
esteem, making bad decisions, among others. People live under
constant pressure, which generates a negative impact generating
a domino effect with the people around them.

People: Risk Factor
Mental Health
Mental health a crucial role in the norms and
behaviors of the individual. We have to take
into account that mental health problems are
too many and appear in unexpected ways,
depending on the situation the individual is
going through. They can be more than one
disease at the same time family and friends
must support and give attention to those
people who are going through a bad time and
recommend professional help and
intervention. There are entities and people
willing to help them.

People: Risk Factor
According to this, mental health of an individual is a
valuable gift, many times this gift can be altered by
several external factors. Most of the time, the social
factor greatly influences the behavior of people in trying
to fit in within a certain group in society where every day
it is changing. Mental health has to be taken care of
from an early age to avoid suffering future damage.
Likewise technology and social media also influence the
lives of individuals as well as the way in which they are
educated and treated at home plus peer pressure and
trying to please everyone and to try to give a good
image. It may not be precisely the best for health;
however, this situation occurs all over the world.
Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and many other
mental illnesses appear depending on the situation that
the individual is going through. In most cases people
suffer from mental illnesses, and they do not have a
person to talk to and discuss the situation they are going
through and it is always good to seek help and help when
you can.
References
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-
34613/v1
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-
issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Stress-and-
Violence-at-Home-During-the-Pandemic.aspx
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0
020764020939984
https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-
substance-use/covid-19
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.
2975

Guest Writer
Economy and Consumerism
• Fairy Tale Endings (56 to 58)
By Camila Ávila Cabalceta, UCR Rodrigo Facio Campus, II Year Civil Engineering Major
• Consumerism: A Description of Today’s Lifestyle (59 to 61)
By Diana García Gómez

Fairy Tale Endings
By Camila Ávila Cabalceta
Key words: fairy tales, princesses, female empowerment, progress
Bio blurb: Camila is currently majoring in Civil Engineering at the
University of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Facio Campus. She is on her second
year in her quest to become an accomplished professional. She has
loved reading and writing since she was little. Being in a male-
dominated major can be intimidating, but with this article she hopes
she can help women find strength to be whoever they want and study
whatever they choose.

Fairy Tale Endings
If you ask women what some of their favorite childhood
characters were, chances are they might mention a
princess. From an early age, we are told fairy tales that
revolve around waiting for a “Prince Charming” in order to
get a “happily ever after”.
The princesses we all know and love spent most of their
lives trapped inside their homes looking hopelessly out a
window, waiting for a man who would marry them and
give them the life they wanted. We’ve grown up under the
misconception that we cannot escape that fate either, but
the truth is this “Damsel in Distress Syndrome” needs to be
eradicated. Why should we have to wait around our
whole lives for someone who may never show up and
why should we give someone else so much power over
our lives?
We don’t have to look so hard to find women who spent
most of their lives waiting for their happily ever after to
come and it never did.
We inherit our history and our names from
women who did not have the same
opportunities as we do now.
Unable to go outside and experience the real
world, always helplessly waiting for their lives
to begin. This must be kept in mind at all times,
so we don´t forget where we come from and
how much things have changed because even
though we may have inherited the names and
the history, we shall not be trapped in the same
cycle of oppression. We have the power to
change history and get rid of “the place by the
window” once and for all, because the truth is
we were taught to wait for someone to give us
the power we dreamed of when in reality we’ve
had that power all along.

Fairy Tale Endings
This is not to say we should forget or undermine princesses
and their fairy tale endings, for they have also shown us
that (although sometimes unrealistically) happy endings do
happen and everyone’s story is different. Fairy tales are
and always will be part of every person’s childhood
because everyone needs to believe in a little magic to get
by, but we also need to learn from their mistakes and teach
each other to be better.
To the little girls who shall inherit our names and learn
about our stories, let’s show them a world where they
don’t only have to be princesses and can instead take on
whatever role they desire.
Keeping in mind the women that came before us, we
should honor their courage and do them justice by
promoting stories of princesses who became their own
knights in shining armor and wrote their own destinies. By
doing so we inspire them to create the new and improved
version of fairy tale endings we wish we had growing up.

Consumerism: A Description of
Society’s Lifestyle
By
Diana García Gómez
Key words: consumerism, society, debt, syndrome, advertising

Consumerism has been increasing all over the world for decades,
it has changed the way in which people perceive society and many
aspects that are part of it. Consumerism is the belief that personal
wellbeing and happiness depend on the level of personal
consumption (Aaker & Day, 1982). Nowadays, it refers to society’s
lifestyle in which many people embrace to achieve their goals by
acquiring goods that they clearly do not need. From this point of
view, according to Mayell (2004) “about 1.7 billion people
worldwide now belong to the global "consumer class” (para.1).
This commercial activity is considered as a positive phenomenon
that helps economic growth based on the capitalist economy in
which we are immersed. In fact, there are many concerns about
how consumerism has caused people to incurring debt and
working longer hours to pay for the high-consumption lifestyle
which also has been increasing mental and social problems in
society.
One of the negative effects of consumerism is that many people around
the world are often struck with what is deemed “shopaholic syndrome.”
The symptoms of this are spending preposterous amounts of time and
money shopping, but this syndrome is related with the way in which
companies portray their products by advertising since companies try to
portray a negative perspective in which consumers are becoming
unhappy because they have no way to satisfy their desires. Through this
strategy the companies have the rights to provide visions of new kinds of
lives for consumers to consider, accept or reject. Thus, it increases the
presence of this syndrome in society.
Likewise, consumerism is destroying our social relationships and
environment as well for example, people have been subconsciously
trained to think like a consumer, and they approach relationships with a
similar mindset which means that they usually construct lists of criteria
that their relatives and friends must meet in order be accepted as part of
their lives. Moreover, the demand for goods and services have been
increasing which means that the need to produce these also increases. In
fact, this aspect leads us to accelerated climate change since the products
are used once, and then either thrown into landfill which also increase
contamination and environmental problems (Shah, 2005).
Consumerism: A Description of Society’s
Lifestyle
By Diana García Gómez

In brief, consumerism has been incredibly successful if we analyze
how the economy has been reinforcing due to the influence of this
commercial activity. Nevertheless, society needs to be aware of the
consequences that this activity has had on different fields such as
mental health, social relationships, and environment. Those aspects
can help people to understand the real effects of this strategy to
prevent its impact in people's lives and environment as well.
References:
1. Mayell, H. (2004). As Consumerism Spreads, Earth Suffers, Study
Says. Retrieved from: National Geographic. Web site:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2004/01/con
sumerism-earth-suffers/
2. Shah, N. (2005). Effects of Consumerism. Retrieved from:
globalissues.org. Web site:
https://www.globalissues.org/article/238/effects-of-
consumerism
3. Aaker, D. A., & Day, G. S. (Eds.). (1982). Consumerism. Simon and
Schuster

Merry Christmas and a
Prosperous New Year
• Keeping the Magic Alive: Christmas is Coming! (63 to 66)
By Elieth Zúñiga Fajardo
• Awakening the Christmas Spirit: Cinematography during the Rise of COVID-19 (67
to 72)
By Sofía Saprissa Piñar
• A New Year and a New Hope for the Future (73-75)
By Diana García Gomez, Yuritza Marchena Guevara, Indiana Abarca Pérez and Dayana Amador Marchena

Keeping the Magic Alive:
Christmas is coming!
By Elieth Zúñiga Fajardo
"Nothing ever seems too bad, too
hard, or too sad when you've got a
Christmas tree in the living room."
- Nora Roberts
Key words: Christmas spirit, magic, hope, family, joy

One of the most beautiful traditions of Christmas
season some of us enjoyed when we were kids
was to be sitting in the living room with the family
watching Christmas movies, and a funny and
interesting feature all those movies had in
common was the fact that something or someone
was always trying to ruin or steal the Christmas
night. Ironically, here we are many years later
fighting against an invisible enemy that no movie
could foreshadow, an enemy disguised as a
terrible virus that came to steal our health, our
lifestyle, our peace, and now is threatening with
stealing the magic of one of the most wonderful
and expected holidays of the year: Christmas.
It is not a secret that 2020 has been a tough year
due to the unprecedented pandemic that our
generation is facing. Many people have seen how
their companies closed due to the lack of
customers, some have lost their jobs, others have
struggled against the stress and anxiety due to the
lockdown period. Besides, some have not seen
their relatives since long and have done so only
through a cellphone or computer screen. Also
many kids and teenagers dropped out of their
studies for several reasons, and sadly, others have
lost their family members and friends because this
virus has taken the life of their loved ones.

Maybe you are wondering about what the
consequences of the pandemic have to do with
the title of this article? But trust me, it makes
sense because after having such complicated
experiences this year, many people need to be
reminded of the positive things that bring hope
back. And Christmas has always been a season
that brings not only hope, but also illusion, and
love to the life of people, the lights and the
Christmas carols remind us how fortunate we are
despite all the sadness and negativity the world is
facing; besides, the smile of kids while they dream
about their gifts remind us about the kids we used
to be when we watched Christmas movies in the
living room surrounded by our relatives.
For this reason, even when the world seems to be very
different and the future seems uncertain, it is necessary
to hold all the positiveness we find around us. Even if we
are feeling scared, sad, and despaired, the magic and
illusion of better days may help us to feel hopeful. And
this is not like forgetting everything we have been
through, but to keep walking despite the wounds and
pain we may be feeling.
Also, it is normal if many people think that things will not
be the same anymore because some have lost more than
others, and some losses are irreparable and
irreplaceable, and we should respect that. But the power
of love and empathy in our hearts must be stronger to
support others that are having more difficult days.

Thus, Christmas has normally been a season full of
joy, love, and sharing, but this year seems anything
but normal. So, instead of letting the invisible enemy
to ruin this too, we can keep the magic alive by
helping others with a word of encouragement, by
sharing something special with those who have less
than us, also by smiling and being kind.
This year the Christmas season cannot be forgotten
or replaced by sadness; on the contrary, it should be
the most wonderful Christmas ever celebrated. Let’s
put up the Christmas tree, the colored lights, and the
decorations with joy and Christmas spirit. Let’s keep
the magic alive, the evil ones and the Grinch ones
have never been able to steal the Christmas joy. Let’s
not let the virus do so.

Awakening the Christmas Spirit:
Cinematography during the Rise of COVID-19
Key words: pandemic, Yuletide, social bubble, movies, Klaus

Since the emergence and surge of the coronavirus pandemic
earlier this year, different societies around the world have been
affected both economically and emotionally. Many of the
celebrations have been affected by its quality and relevance
since then. The present time is few weeks away from Christmas,
according with Brian Hughes (2018). In the 1930s, US President
Calvin Coolidge made the following observation on the annual
Yuletide festivities: “Christmas is not a time nor a season,” he
said, “but a state of mind.” Taking into account that the level of
animosity that is devoted to this time could bring out feelings of
hope and family unity, in addition to sanitary measures, it is
advisable to celebrate at home, watching Christmas movies at
this time is a prudent and fun way to unite with the people of
our social bubble.
Awakening the Christmas Spirit:
Cinematography during the rise of covid-19

Three Christmas movies that can motivate this season
In this short list there will be three varied animated
options, first a classic from animated cinema: "Mickey's
Christmas Carol" (1983), an option for anime lovers in
search of a nostalgic story: "Tokyo Godfathers" (2003) and
an ingenious adaptation of the origin of Santa Claus: "Klaus"
(2019). All designed to convey humanity, goodness and
unity that characterize Christmas.

1. Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
The classic Disney animated characters play the roles in this
animated retelling of the Charles Dickens masterpiece A Christmas Carol.
Uncle Scrooge McDuck (Ebenezer Scrooge) has attitudes of egotism so
much with his nephew Fred (acted by Donald Duck) which invites him to
celebrate Christmas and is rejected by his uncle. But Scrooge's real victim
is his employee Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) who he forces him to work
late without having Christmas morning to celebrate with his
impoverished family, since the salary that Scrooge gives him is a pittance.
Due to his bad attitudes, he is visited by three spirits who will show him
his mistakes and how they damage those who love him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNfzL9r1DIo

Middle-aged alcoholic Gin rude but sentimental, teenage runaway
Miyuki and former drag queen Hana are a trio of homeless people surviving as
a "family" on the streets of Tokyo. While rummaging in the trash for food on
Christmas Eve, they stumble upon an abandoned newborn baby in a trash bin.
With only a handful of clues to the baby's identity, the three misfits search the
streets of Tokyo for help in returning the baby to its parents. These three
characters will make a journey in which they not only find the baby's parents,
they will find themselves and the reason for their decline. which recalls the true
meaning of Christmas, closeness to others beyond gifts and great feasts, the
simplicity of the pure essence of humanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abN9w3C46Aw
2. Tokyo Godfathers

3. Klaus (2019)
A desperate postman accidentally brings about the genesis of
Santa Claus. It all begins with Jesper, a spoiled man son of the owner and
director of the postmen of his region. His father tires of his poor
performance in the family business and sends him to a faraway region to
fulfill his services by courier. In this area there is no habit of sending letters
or packages, for reasons of looking for clients Jesper meets Klaus, a giant
hermit who makes wooden toys. Jesper manages to get the children to
send letters to Klaus asking for gifts. This story will bring nuances of reality
to the fantasy of Santa Claus and leaves that feeling of love towards others
as Klaus says "A simple act of kindness always sparks another".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taE3PwurhYM

A New Year and A New Hope for the Future
By
Diana García Gómez
Indiana Abarca Pérez
Dayana Amador Marchena
Yuritza Marchena Guevara
Key words: life expectancy, hope, opportunities, goals, love

A new year is a little light that enables us to recover that life expectancy
that most people have lost due to the coronavirus. The current pandemic
has affected people’s lives dramatically because it has changed not only the
way of living, but it has also placed some people in painful circumstances
such as loss of jobs, closure of businesses, among others. Unfortunately,
everybody around the world is having a battle against this virus trying to
survive and protect his or her loved ones. Certainly, it is really difficult to
know when this virus will disappear or at least be controlled since the future
is an uncertain aspect of life, and probably COVID-19 will not fade away.
Although this may be true, A New Year is a New Hope for the future, so this
coming year will be a new beginning to dream, to get stronger, and to be
open to painful emotions because hope does not mean that hurt is going to
disappear, but it brings the opportunity to develop resilience. In other
words, the next year is a book and its pages are blank to start writing new
opportunities, new goals, new adventures and new ways to give and love.
Nowadays, people are living in challenging and uncertain times. The
coronavirus has reminded people of the importance of family, friends and
their priorities in life. Through these difficult circumstances, people have
been able to appreciate their families and the time that they spend with
them.
That is the reason why this coming year is a new hope for the future because
people are reflecting about the situations that they have faced this year, and how
their families and friends have played an important role. Moreover, this new year
represents a new beginning in which people can strengthen their relationships
with their relatives which is a positive aspect because in a certain way the
importance of families and friends have been overlooked by society due to the
globalized world in which we are involved. Thus, the hope that things will be
better in the coming year, helps people to have different perceptions of lives in
which their relatives, friends and priorities are taken into account since those
aspects are necessary to get ahead despite the situations that people have been
dealing with.
In many countries the new year is celebrated with fireworks, music, delicious
food, drinks, and of course, the loved ones gathered. In many families, it is a
spiritual celebration which means bringing good feelings and luck for the coming
year. Besides, as college students, our view of the future is always present, and
more so now because it is only expected that everything will be better because
we have expectations about it, to exercise our careers and this gives us the
strength to move forward. In the new year, this time of expectation, we must
look for many more reasons to continue, to be helpful to those around us, and to
be happy despite difficulties. By large and far, next year 2021 means new
opportunities, there is the opportunity to be better human beings, to love more,
to have more empathy, to express what we feel, there is only one life and is this
one, now. We know that the celebrations have changed because of what is
happening in the world, but still, there is something that will not take away our
hope for a better future, that is the desire for the new year.
A New Year, a New Hope for the Future

In addition to this, we need to take historical examples of how the ones that
in some moments in their lives were isolated (like we are during this
pandemic), used precisely that tough season to their advantage. For
example, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Fedor Dostoyevski, José Leon
Sanchez, the biblical example of the 40 years that Moses spent in the
desert, the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert. Besides this,
there are many other figures that have marked history, not without having a
dessert season behind their lives. In the same fashion, we had the example
of how at the moment to study we had to be far away from the social world
sometimes to get ready with new skills, isolation could be used as
preparation for the future.
Indeed, it is exactly in times like these in which we managed to build our
character, grow spirituality, create something new (like a product, a book,
blog, and so on.), and develop our empathy for other human beings or living
creatures. It should be noted, how the same nature is always showing us
examples in which something beautiful is created in a period that it is
isolated, for example, a butterfly.
There is a young guy called Christopher David Mitcheld who lost his colon, and
now he wastes his feces using an ileostomy bag. Sadly, many of his friends and
his girlfriend abandoned him at that time, instead of supporting him in the most
challenging times of his life. Christopher read many books during the months in
which he was dealing with his treatment. When he finally recovered and started
to face his life now with an ileostomy bag, he started to pursue his dream to
become a vocal coach. Surprisingly, now he has participated in many concerts
singing with the purpose to earn money for charity. Indeed, he had the
opportunity to work side by side with the important famous singer Boy George.
To summarize, 2021 like any other year, we have got the opportunity to make
the best version of ourselves. Perhaps, setbacks and struggles in the middle of
heavy circumstances are going to come, regardless how much effort we put in
our actions. Nevertheless, the diamonds are created in extreme pressure and
scorching temperatures. Without a doubt, the last line was a cliché metaphor.
However, there are times in our lives in which we envy the smile, the wisdom, or
resilience of somebody else, and are exactly these challenging moments in which
we are being shaped for the best version in which we could be. In brief, every
day we have two options, to feel self-compassion, or to fight with the best that
we got.
Reference:
Christopher David Mitcheld. (2019) [Video]. My Survival Story - Living with an
Ileostomy Bag Retrieved in November 2020 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Y002IcMpE&t=407s

Technology and Digital
Presence and Humanity
• The Digital Humanist: A Critical Inquiry (77 to 79)
By María Fernanda Solís Venegas
• Social Media and its Effects on Society (80 to 82)
By Gustavo Rojas Córdoba
• Open Access from Digital Societies (83-85)
By Yuritza Marchena Guevara

A Reaction Paper
The Digital Humanist: A Critical Inquiry
Domenico Fiormonte, Teresa Numerico & Francesca Tomasi
By María Fernanda Solís Venegas
Key words: privacy, politics, digital world, social networks, property, ethics

Reaction Paper #3
The Digital Humanist: A Critical Inquiry
By Domenico Fiormonte, Teresa Numerico & Francesca Tomasi
This reaction paper will be based on Part II of the book
titled “Theoretical and Practical Dimensions”, and
especially, the main topic to consider is Chapter #5:
“Searching and Organizing”, but the chosen subtitle is
“Ethical and Social Implications”, which contains three
sub-topics: Copyright, Privacy, and Politics and
Censorship. The decision to work with these aspects is
due to the relationship between the digital environment
to the humanistic field; the digital world can also have
certain limitations that assure the well-being of the
people behind the virtual reality since no one can do
whatever wanted with the digital information found in
the network.
The information presented in this book is really deep and
interesting to read, and it is really important to take a look at it
since it deals with sensitive issues that occur in the digital world
without people even being aware of that. For example, how many
times has one asked oneself the reason why when accessing
YouTube or Facebook, there is a similar content to something
already searched, or when there are some ads with information of
the interest from the user without even having to search it? That is
weird! Certainly, that is what happens on the social networks: those
websites are paying attention to what users do every single
moment on the net, and that is why they know exactly what the
preference of the user is. As Fiormonte, Numerico, and Tomasi
(2015) state: “Also now a large part of the monitoring of user
behavior is carried out via social networks that, even outside a
user’s own network, can monitor preferences and choices, as with
Facebook’s “like” button (or the Google +1 button)” (p.187).
However, how legal is this? Is there a way in which somebody can
censor or limit the intervention of these networks? Well, what the
book tries to state is that there are several ways in which privacy
and the information are regarded as sensitive and important by
different areas and even governments.

In fact, it was really interesting to discover from this chapter that
in 1986, Richard Mason, who was a pioneer in this field, stated that
there were going to be four main challenges to overcome in this
issue: privacy, accuracy, property, and access. Even more
interesting is the fact that those four aspects indeed were
important and continue to be necessary nowadays. “All four of
these challenges are still just as relevant today, and are all central
to the function of modern search engines” (Fiormonte, Numerico,
and Tomasi, 2015, p.184). Those modern search engines are the
ones in charge of the new style of doing research and
communicative entertainment because there is a wide acceptance
of the information that is found on the net due to the fast and easy
characteristic; however, the information is sensitive and belongs to
an owner.
Currently, the social and ethical implications in the area of
digitalization is very important and sensitive. When it comes
to copyright, the situation is even more evident because
everything that is provided in the networks has an owner, and
sometimes people are not really sure about who is the owner
of the information that is on the net, so there may be many
problems related to what people do with the information. As
student, it is possible to visualize this situation by the
implementation of APA in the academic research to assure the
sources in which the information was taken because
otherwise it would be a plagiarism, which means a lot of
problems. It does not matter if the information was taken on
the net, everything needs to be well cited because every
single word that is copied and pasted from any website does
not belong to the writer. Of course, that applies to physical
sources as well, but how important it is to notice that it
definitely applies to websites as well. The information on the
net is sensitive and has property, so it is important to know
about it.
Reference:
Fiormonte, D., Numerico, T., & Tomasi, F. (2015). The Digital Humanist: A Critical
Inquiry. Punctum Books, Brooklyn, New York. [PDF].

Social Media Effects on Society
Key words: social media, effects, society, advantages, mental

The influence of social media on society is increasing. Social
media plays an important role in people's daily lives. In
addition to being used by companies and organizations, they
are also used by public and private institutions as teaching
methods for students. The most common social media are
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, You Tube,
Messenger and Tik tok. Many people often use them for
different purposes, whether it is discovering what is
happening in the world, communicating with relatives, family
or friends, entertaining, expressing or sharing ideas and
opinions, distracting, but in other situations they are used to
hurt others. Facebook is one of the most popular social media
in the world. Many people in the world are using Facebook
anytime, anywhere, as a leisure activity, they spend most of
their time on Facebook.
Although social media provide us with benefits and
advantages, enabling us to understand what is happening
around us and to communicate with other people through the
different existing methods, it also has a negative impact on
the lives of many people due to these ills and overuse. Some
people think they use social media in the right way, and they
don’t realize that over time, both physically and mentally,
social media will bring harm to them. Social media is robbing
us of our own confidence, comfort, self-control, and replacing
the physical and emotional friendships we get with each other
in a completely isolated way. But despite this, the most
important and worrying thing is that many people in the
world have suffered a variety of serious consequences due to
excessive and inappropriate use of these drugs, such as
addiction, reduced real interpersonal communication, and
changes in behavior between people.
Social Media Effects on Society

To sum up, people rarely talk about the negative effects
of social media, they do not seem to pay attention to the
negative effects of social media. However, if people
continue to use social media in an inappropriate way, the
present and future generations may suffer physical and
mental distress and psychological issues; this is why it is
important to make all users of the aforementioned social
media (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others)
fully aware of the situation so that they will not only have
fun with it, but also prevent and avoid negative impact
errors or overuse of these aspects or consequences. They
can practice different sports and do other activities to
prevent the negative effects of social media.

Open Access from Digital Humanities by
Domenico Fiormonte, Teresa Numerico and Francesca Tomasi
A Reaction paper by Yuritza Marchena Guevara
Key words: technology, open access, knowledge, humanities, beneficial

Open access, from Digital Humanities by Domenico
Fiormonte, Teresa Numerico and Francesca Tomasi:
Since many years, technology has changed the way in which people interact
and get knowledge. In addition, most of the access that we have to different
sources has also changed. In today societies, we have seen the importance
of education and the way in which we obtain and have access to it.
Nowadays, many websites and online libraries provide access to different
books, magazines, newspapers among others through open access
platforms. “However one should be aware that the open access and Web
scientific practices cannot alone resolve the problem of cultural and
linguistic inequalities in the evaluation and transmission of knowledge”
(p.86). In fact, there are many concerns about the access that we have to
knowledge and information because there are some limitations in the way
this knowledge is being transmitted and the fields that are included in these
open platforms.
Likewise, one of the fields that portray some concerns about the
implementation of open access is the humanities field since it is considered
as one of the most important areas that help the development of society due
to research, social studies and scientific exploration. For instance, “The
permanent crisis of the humanities has pushed these disciplines towards new
strategies for communicating with the general public, finding new sources of
funding, and assessing the value of the projects produced within their
departments” (p.87). In fact, these written works provided by humanities
have had to look for sources that allow them to afford the cost of their
publications.

Likewise, one of the fields that portray some concerns about the
implementation of open access is the humanities field since it is considered
as one of the most important areas that help the development of society
due to research, social studies and scientific exploration. For instance, “The
permanent crisis of the humanities has pushed these disciplines towards
new strategies for communicating with the general public, finding new
sources of funding, and assessing the value of the projects produced within
their departments” (p.87). In fact, these written works provided by
humanities have had to look for sources that allow them to afford the cost
of their publications. For that reason, open access brings the possibility to
change that panorama becoming beneficial to this field because “The basic
idea is that science and knowledge should be accessible to everyone without
restriction and, therefore, it is necessary to break down barriers such as the
cost of printing” (p.84). In brief, the implementation of open access is a
positive factor that benefits not only learners, but also researchers to make
their investigations publish at a low cost. In that way, many people could
have access to different sources and get the information and knowledge
requested.
Reference
Fiormonte, D., Numerico, T., & Tomasi, F. (2015). The digital humanist: A
critical inquiry (p. 262). punctum books

Gender Equality and
Human Rights
• Violence against Male Gender (87 to 89)
By Andrey Villafuerte Matarrita
• Racism in Costa Rica Through Digital Platforms (90 to 94)
By Alexandra Gómez Montiel and Jeison Parra Hernández
• Remembering the Fallen Ones (95 to 96)
By Yendry Castañeda Bonilla and Fabián Espinoza Hernández

Violence Against the Male Gender
Keywords: Violence, Men, Abuses, Family, Help

Violence against the male gender can be taboo for many people,
but today it is present in many homes. According to the National
Coalition Against Domestic Violence, (n,d) “1 in 4 men have
experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
This includes a range of behaviors (e.g. slapping, shoving, pushing)
and in some cases might not be considered "domestic violence"”
(para.3).
Violence against the male gender can go unnoticed in many
homes, that is why this article is focused on informing readers so
that they know more about these acts of abuse that not only harm
women but also exist in the men.
Likewise, many times the news only point to the mistreatment that
women receive, in the media there is a trend of certain types of
campaigns and news against violence in women, going unnoticed
the mistreatment that men receive by their romantic partner.
According to Fontes (1999), “suggested that while men abuse their
female partner every 15 seconds in the United States (US), females
abuse their male partner every 14.6 seconds” (quoted in Baber,
2008). So, it can be emphasized that in places like the United
States, violence in both genders is notorious, both in women and in
men. It is true that violence must not be allowed in any type of
person. It is important to let the population know that domestic
abuse should not be allowed in any home, because socially this is
not allowed in any way and religiously a couple should live in
harmony and peace, serving as an example to the little ones
(children) of the house.

So, what is domestic violence really? Domestic violence can
result from the act of physically or verbally threatening,
whether married or in common law, also where different
members of the family are involved, regardless of their
gender, this can also happen in the workplace (Barber, 2008).
In the case of the male gender, many times when they are
victims of domestic violence, they do not report abuses
because many times for them this can be somewhat
embarrassing, because as is known in society, a stereotype
has formed that men are the strongest gender. According to
Lawrence (2003) “there may still be many male victims who
do not report such incidents because of the fear of ridicule,
social isolation and humiliation”. (quoted in Baber, 2008).
Many times, men should report these cases to the
corresponding authorities in order to mitigate violence in the
home, a man should not just because he is a man keep the
problems that torment them, but seek help with specialists or
authorities to help them solve these problems.
Furthermore, it is important to mention that abuses can bring
great psychological and physical problems to a person who is
a victim of this issue. Moreover, the role of health centers
would play a key role in reducing this problem, said
authorities also have to contribute to those affected and
report any type of anomaly or suspicion of any type of abuse
in the homes, if someone comes with graphics or blows.

Racism in Costa Rica Through Digital Platforms
By
Alexandra Gómez Montiel
&
Jeison Parra Hernández
Key words: racism, ethnic, racial, digital platform, discrimination

Racism in Costa Rica Through Digital Platforms
Racism is a well-known issue around the world and has been seen since some centuries ago. Many
people are living with the consequences of racial discrimination all around the world, but we do not
need to go too far in order to see the disadvantages that people receive towards their physical
appearance and those characteristics that people consider different. However, and before getting
deep into the topic, we should define what racism is since most of the time and in our country people
tend to think that racism is just some kind of phobia towards black people, which is true; however,
racism is more than that. People can be racist toward west Asians, east Asians, and many other
people of different cultures. According to BBC (2020). Racism is defined “as a belief that race is the
primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent
superiority of a particular race” (para. 6).

Therefore, with the basic information about racism that explains very well that this racial discrimination goes beyond the black race we
can get immerged into a more specific context which is already highlighted on the title “Racism in Costa Rica Through Digital
Platforms”. Here we can deduce and talk about two important aspects regarding this, which are the positive and negative aspects.
Negative Aspects
Regarding these aspects, and beyond the normal actions of finding people on the streets
saying racist words to other people from other ethnicity, we can find those with bad
education that employ the use of digital platforms in this country in order to insult and to
offend those people by Facebook, for example. Here is attached a picture which was posted
on Instagram and that showed us the bad and big racism that can be found in this country.

Positive Aspects
As noted, the use of digital platforms has been helping racism and its movements
against this racial discrimination. Besides, there is a woman named “Thelma Darkings” who
has been considered an important and representative human being for the black and Afro
Caribbean ethnic group in Costa Rica. Throughout the use of digital platforms such as
Facebook, and entertainment TV programs, she has been giving a message to Costa Rican
people against the racial discrimination while emphasizing that there is still racism in this
country.
As a general conclusion, it is important to keep creating awareness into our Costa Rican society and new generations by the use of
digital platforms in order to decrease and avoid completely cases of racism in Costa Rica. Therefore, as everyone knows the use of
digital platforms is a powerful tool that can be taken for negative as well as positive purposes. So, it is a responsibility of we all who
use any kind of these platforms to take them and use them with positive purposes in all these topics regarding minorities groups
such as racism.

References:
BBC News. (2020). Racism definition: Merriam-Webster to make update after request. Retrieved in November 2020 from:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52993306
Google Search. (n.d). Racism, riots, and recognition of our problem. [image].Retrieved in November 2020 from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=racism&rlz=1C1SQJL_esCR848CR848&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi92qqG5O
bsAhUHw1kKHVtuAUEQ_AUoAXoECAsQAw&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=EaxmBc5dTYP1dM
Scott, K. (2019). ¿Racismo en Costa Rica?. [image] Retrieved in October 2020 from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtBl2kdgMH5/
Google Search. (n.d). Thelma Darkings – CR – Diario Digital Nuestro País. [image]. Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/search?q=thelma+darkings&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjt3b6H5ObsAhUFVjABHTrQAuIQ2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=thelma+dar&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgIIADICCAAyBggAEAgQHjIGCAAQCBAeMgYIABAIEB4yBggAEAgQHjIGCAA
QCBAeMgQIABAYMgQIABAYMgYIABAKEBg6BAgAEEM6BQgAELEDOgQIABADOgcIABCxAxBDOgQIABAeUIn8Eli8mhNgu68TaABwAHg
EgAHuCIgBhC-SAQ0yLTQuNy4yLjAuMS4xmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWewAQDAAQE&sclient=img&ei=goOhX-
2UJYWswbkPuqCLkA4&bih=625&biw=1366&rlz=1C1SQJL_esCR848CR848#imgrc=WrTrNUkxuiRDlM

Remembering the Fallen Ones
By Fabian Espinoza Hernández and Yendry Castañeda Bonilla
Key words: Murder, youth, fallen, killer, massacre, death
On January 19, 2017, one of the most regrettable massacres in Liberia Guanacaste Costa
Rica took place. Gerardo Mairena, a man from Liberia, murdered university students inside a
house in La Victoria, Liberia. The killer waited until everyone was asleep to commit the
murders, tied them all up and wounded their necks and legs so they wouldn't escape. The
guy by the last name Mairena killed them one by one, leaving Ingrid as the last one to be
sexually abused. The victims were Joseph Brenes Solís (22 years old), Dayana Martínez
Romero (24 years old), Stephanie Hernández García (22 years old), Ingrid Massiel Méndez
Serrano (24 years old), and Ariel Vargas Condega (24 years old). All students from the
University of Costa Rica (UCR) and Universidad Técnica Nacional (UTN).

Besides, they were only students that focused on their lives and no troubled youth
but sometimes death is at the corner of the street, and it knocks at the door
whenever you can imagine, whenever you are not expecting it.
This past October is a month of memories, the day of the dead is a day that in our
country is used to remembering the people that we will always carry in our hearts.
For this reason, we want to remember our fallen colleagues. As fellow students who
have to move to different parts of the country in order to fulfill our dreams, this sort
of news is extremely sad. That is why, this section is dedicated to these students who
had the light turned out of their eyes and with them their dreams.
Nowadays we should be attentive even if we know that person because we do not
know when we can meet someone who has bad intentions and can harm us. In fact,
social networks can be used to search for our personal information and for this
reason we must be careful about what we publish, always be suspicious of everyone
and always talk with the people we trust the most about where we are going and
with whom we tend to gather frequently.

Environmental Awareness, Architectural
Richness and Natural Resources
• BOSQUEMAR: A group focused on artwork from wood waste mainly coming from the sea (98 to
101)
By Rosiris Matarrita Vásquez
• Rescuing Nicoya’s Architectural Culture with Wood Houses (102 to 107)
By Katherine Castro Arias
• Trawling (95 to 98)
By Brithany Carrilo Barquero and Melissa García Agüero (108 to 111)
• The Impact of Bottom Trawling in Costa Rica(102 to 114)
By Eimy Espinoza Obando
• The Importance of Recycling (115 to 117)
By Fanny Valeria Agüero Briones
• The Treasure Island (118 to 123)
By Olman Aguirre Mendoza
• Hurricane Eta: A Reminder of our Vulnerability and Global Climate Change (124 to 128)
By Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós

Key words: stick woman, BOSQUEMAR, designs, art and adze
The Gist: a student-generated journal of
written expression. UNA Nicoya 2020
98
BOSQUEMAR: a group focused on artwork from
wood waste mainly coming from the sea

In 2002, in the town of Corozalito a group was created by
local people which was called “BOSQUEMAR”, whose main
purpose is to work with wood and sea waste. That group
was integrated by 16 people who were trained on the use
of machinery to create art. Besides, that group was
supported and instructed through the collaboration of
Hotel Punta Islita and the facilitator Licda. Loida Pretiz,
director of Islita Museum.
One of the reasons for the creation of that group was
because some of the members had a background in
working with wood and some of them showed interest in
learning and knowing about that. Consequently, the group
was taught and coached and now have a great variety of
products made mainly with wood.
On the other hand, BOSQUEMAR is characterized because
every member of the group has their own style or design.
For example, Félix Vásquez is one of the members, and he
is focused on the making of trays in different sizes. Besides,
it is worth emphasizing that these trays are handmade with
the help of a simple machine called “Adze”. Those beautiful
things people usually use to put in the center of a table
with fruits or whatever they want to set inside.

.
Additionally, some of the members create those products inspired
by any situation or even inspired on themselves as Juana López
does. She is an inquisitive woman who has made a special
creation because she feels identified with one of her products
which is called the “stick woman”, and she named it that way
because she feels identified with previous situations in her
personal life. Likewise, this product is made with sticks coming
from the sea and with a seed of a tree by the name in Spanish as
“Peine mico”. Those are the main components to create the
woman figure.
Consequently, most of the members have created their own
design or their own style using those materials coming from the
sea. Another important aspect to mention is that some of the
products that have been created by that group include
candlesticks, rustic mirrors, and decorative art; all of them are
original designs. Additionally, BOSQUEMAR creates customized
artwork as per clients’ requests and specifications.

From 2002 until presently, BOSQUEMAR has shown that
it has a big potential for the creation of different objects.
In like manner, it has shown the capacity that every
member of the group has in using creativity and their
ability to learn from each other.
This group has managed to sell their products to
foreigners because they have those products in
museums and even in some luxurious hotels and
handicraft shops.
Their dedication, patience and desires to continue
learning and continue creating new artwork designs are
the main aspects that make this group continue growing
and generating greater sales and income for their
families and the communities.
References
Information provided by Marta F and Odili V
https://www.facebook.com/artebosquemar/

Rescuing Nicoya’s Culture
Through Wood Houses
By Katherine Castro Arias
Key words: wood, houses, culture, Nicoya, tradition

Nicoya is a small and peaceful place where people
can find attractions such as wood houses. Most of
these houses are located in La Cananga
neighborhood close to downtown. Nicoya wood
houses represent Nicoyan culture, and they are a
way to preserve the past and owner’s ancestors in
some way.
Mostly, houses were inherited by owner’s family as
the case of Juan Aguilar. His house is one of the most
notorious in Nicoya and almost everybody who
passes by takes a picture of the house. It is big and
has a green color as it was recently restored, but it
still mantains the colonial style. The letters up the
doors SAV means the name’s initials from the original
owner: Santana Aguilar Vargas. Also,The house is
made of pochote and cedro wood. It was
constructed in 1927 and before belonging to Aguilar
family, it was a kinder garden.

Another green house in La Cananga
neighborhood is the one located at the
corner close to the house mentioned
previously. It has more than 66 years and
its owners were Cuban. They gave the
house to their family generations. The
windows of the house are big and
without any kind of glass or gate. Also,
the house has been recently painted, but
still keeps a colonial style.

Near the colonial “Plazoleta”, there is a house
located at a corner adjacent to the Colonial
Catholic Church. This house was constructed
around 1950, it is made of Pochote wood
and mosaic floor. In the past, the house used
to be a bakery, and it was a kind of lodge
where female students lived because they
left their rural places in order to study in
downtown Nicoya. The owner only received
female students because she believed, in that
epoch, that women must study and male
chauvinism needed to decrease. Nowadays,
the house belongs to the owner’s relative
named Emelina Díaz.

On the other hand, not just Nicoya
downtown has wood houses. There is
another one located in Curime, and it was
constructed in 1955. It is made of pochote
wood and has belonged to two owners.
Also, it has a soil floor, and it has never been
painted, so it keeps its original and antique
style.

In addition, it is important to mention that
these houses represent an important piece
from the past and they contribute to have
something attractive, peculiar and proper
from Nicoyan culture in the current days.
References:
Universidad Técnica Nacional. (2019).
Historia de las casas antiguas de madera en
Nicoya, Guanacaste.

Key words : marine life, danger of extinction, turtle, nets, oceans
What is the reality behind trawling? Trawling is a very
controversial topic which has been lately one of the most
controversially discussed and analyzed issues in Costa Rica since
just one week ago the Costa Rican government passed a law in
favor of developing trawling. However, there is a sector of the
population that completely disagrees with approving this law
because they say that this type of fishing will destroy the marine
flora and fauna that the country has in its oceans.
Controversial Trawling in
Costa Rica
By Brithany Carrillo Barquero & Melissa García Agüero

On the other hand, there is other part of the population who argues
that the application of this fishing method will be a great opportunity
to help the country’s economy. So, this paper will attempt to explain
why the sector of the population that is against trawling is right. To
achieve this objective, it will be described what trawling is, the main
consequences generated by this fishing way, and finally what are some
of the consequences that can affect Costa Rica directly if this type of
fishing is applied.
Maybe you have heard about the term, but what does bottom
trawling really imply? How does it work? Well, it basically consists of
dragging large weighted nets across the ocean floor to catch a bigger
amount of fishes, prawns, and shrimps. These nets have a wide mouth
and small enclosed end. This mouth has two weighted doors that serve
to keep the net open and to keep the net on the ocean floor. The
mentioned doors can weigh many tons. Also, the bottoms of the nets
are thick metal cables studded with heavy steel balls or with rubber
bobbins which effectually crush everything they find in their path. In
addition, there are two types of nets, one for fish, and other for
prawns.

What are the consequences of using this method? The use of bottom trawling causes
several negative effects or consequences that affect nature in different ways. As stated
in a research by Stiles, Stockbridge, Lande and Hirshfield (2010)
“Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive ways to catch fish, and is responsible for
up to half of all discarded fish and marine life worldwide (p.3)”.
It means that by the use of the fishing nets it is not going to be gotten only fish and
shrimps or prawns, there will be also included many other marine animals as well as the
destruction of their habitats, which will lead to the extinction of several species.
How dangerous can trawling be for Costa Rica? Some beaches in Costa Rica have the
privilege of being visited by thousands of turtles per year, mainly by the Olive Ridley
specie (Tortuga Lora or Golfina). Nevertheless, since some years ago these places also
receive a big amount of Baula turtles, but today these animals are in danger of
extinction, and only very few of them reach our beaches. According to La Nación (2004)
“The main threat to the survival of the turtles is accidental capture, a product of massive
fishing methods used by large vessels, which cause the death of some 40,000 specimens
per year” (para.5) (Translated by the authors of this article). So, it means that if trawling
is practiced in Costa Rica, the Baula turtles will become extinct which represents a big
loss of the marine biodiversity of our country. Thus, this is one of many consequences
that trawling would causes in Costa Rican oceans.

In conclusion, trawling is a very dangerous activity
because it causes a lot of damage to marine biodiversity
since many animals die and even this causes the extinction
of some species, so this type of fishing should not be
allowed in any country.
SAY NO TO TRAWLING!

The Impact of Bottom Trawling in Costa Rica
Key words: marine ecosystem, fishing communities, trawling, reef, fishermen.
By Eimy Espinoza Obando

All fishing activity generates an environmental, social, and economic
impact, but the safety and prosperity of the environment must be
ensured. Costa Rica trades about 10 shrimp species spread out in
coastal and shallow waters from different environments, its method of
production causes damage and disintegration of marine ecosystems. At
the same time, it generates economic inequalities between Artisan
fishing communities and fishing bigger companies. This uncertainty
practice is jeopardizing the future of marine diversity in Costa Rica.
Therefore, beyond ecological impacts on the sea artisanal fishing will
suffer not only economic issues but also marine species preservation.
Without a doubt, bottom trawling and its overuse could end with
sustainability in social and environmental terms, so it is urgent to take
action about this issue.
The use of a trawl is an ancient fishing art that is used practically all
over the world. This technique consists of a weighted net that sweeps
the bottom of the sea and captures everything in its path not only
shrimps and these nets can be used in artisanal fishing, semi-industrial
fishing, or industrial fishing. According to Rostad & Hansen,
"Commercial fishing has important effects on marine benthic habitats.
The disturbance includes habitat destruction, removal of target and
non-target species, and physical disturbance of the seafloor." (2001). It
is a profitable practice because it generates incomes; however, the
amount of shrimp obtained is not enough to justify the annihilation of
the other hundreds of species that are lost by the extraction of the
minimum that shrimp represents.
Unfortunately, species that once lived on the reefs and seabed
must move to other areas, in search of a new place to live,
and thus small producers are left without being able to
produce even the minimum.
The impact of the recent economic crisis on agricultural
activities and fisheries markets has increased the obvious
imbalance of opportunities that exist between artisanal
fishermen and large shrimp companies. Costa Rica aims to
reintegrate the shrimp trawling fishing with the idea of rising
employment rate which will increase the economic incomes
as well as the fishing activity.
Subsequently, banning trawling in Costa Rica will help in so
many ways to improve the environment and its marine
ecosystems, as well as artisanal fishermen, will have better
and healthy fishing to sell and consume.

As a consequence, the marine life will increase in an average
percentage, the coast will be free of contaminations by
trawling and its effects, the reefs, and mangroves might
recover from the environmental damage received from
trawling. Then, artisanal fishermen will have the same
opportunities as before when working in the fishing industry
because the destruction of the different marine ecosystems,
reefs and seabed’s, no longer occurs and the fish that develop
in these habitats are no longer forced to move to other sites
in search of new shelters and food. Thus, their sales or
consumption will increase even more, so their economy and
way of life can continue and contribute to the development of
fishing communities.

The Importance of Recycling
Key words: recycling, container, trash, plastic, paper, glass

Recycling is an act of utmost importance for society since it
involves the reuse of elements and objects of different types that
would otherwise be discarded to form a greater quantity of
garbage and further damaging the planet.
So, recycling is when an object has already been used is taken
through a renovation process instead of being thrown away. The
experts in recycling consider that almost all the elements that
surround us can be recycled or reused in different situations, but
some of them must be discarded because they are toxic.
As one of the main advantages of recycling is that it helps to avoid
the deterioration of the planet since less is produced. The
destruction of large amounts of forests or the progressive
deterioration of the ozone layer occurs mainly due to the intention
of producing well above the needs of people. Recycling is a joy to
this situation since it allows to save a large amount of the energy
that is used for that.
Also, economically, this reduces the energy cost considerably.
Recycling saves too much electricity because this would save a
house's electricity. Also, recycling paper reduces the cost of water
and oil.
A very relevant point in recycling is to distinguish the colors of
recycling since there are many people who do not know it and
throw their garbage in the wrong trash can. In this way, people will
make a correct separation of everything that they want to recycle.
These recycling colors are generally seen on containers in public
places or in homes.
In the blue container, it is to deposit all kinds of papers and
cardboard that we can find in cardboard containers such as boxes
or food containers. Also, newspapers, magazines, wrapping papers,
or brochures should be housed in these containers.
The Importance of Recycling

The yellow container is for depositing all kinds of containers
and products made of plastic such as bottles. The cans of
preserves and soda also must be deposited in these
containers as many people make the mistake of not doing
so.
Glass containers such as alcoholic beverage bottles are
placed in the green container. It is important not to use this
container to deposit ceramics or crusts because they greatly
harm the recycling of this type of material.
Red recycling bins are rare, but they are very useful as they
prevent further environmental contamination. In these
containers, they are used to store hazardous waste such as
batteries, insecticides, oils, aerosols or technological
products.
The orange container is difficult to find, but it is used
exclusively for organic material. However, when you don't
have this container, the gray container is used.
People who have the habit of recycling not only separate
waste according to its biological origin, but they also move
away from the idea of discarding everything that is obsolete
and revalues what for others would already be able to be
forgotten.
References
Ruggeri, A. (2018). Why Are There So Many Recycling
Symbols? [Photograph]. Swedbrand Group. Retrieved from
https://www.swedbrand-group.com/blog/many-recycling-
symbols
Times Reporter. (2018). The Importance of Recycling. New
Times. Retrieved from
https://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/227735

The Treasure Island
By Olman Aguirre Mendoza
Key words: biodiversity, treasure, pirates, species, flora and fauna

Surrounded by nature, with abundant
biodiversity, a place of myths and legends, the
Cocos Island is very little known by the Costa
Rican population although it belongs to Costa
Rica. Located 370 miles from the province of
Puntarenas, it has an area of 2310 hectares.
Cocos Island was declared a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO in 1997.
This island is known around the world for its big
biodiversity even has endemic species.
Moreover, added to the biodiversity, the island
captures the imagination due to the legends
that the island supposedly holds with treasures
hidden by pirates.
The Island and the Pirates’ Treasures
Stories of pirates and treasures are part of
world culture and there are many places
where there are speculations about
hidden treasures. Cocos Island is one of
those magical places where there is
supposed to be a treasure of great value.
The origin of the legend dates back to the
year 1820 when, according to the Costa
Rican historian Raúl Francisco Arias
Sánchez, the so-called Lima’s treasure got
lost. This treasure belonged to the colonial
cathedral of Lima that contained 24 boxes
with gold coins and valuable armaments.

He also mentioned, (N.D)
“At that time Peru was waging a war of independence, to
avoid the looting of the treasure the church hired a ship that
would take the treasure to a safe place”(para,3 translated by
the author).
Nevertheless, the captain of the ship and his second in
command decided to steal the treasure, and in their flight,
they arrived to Cocos island where they hid the treasure in a
cave hiding the entrance with stones and vegetation. The
story of the treasure was released by August Gissler who had
been told the story by his father-in-law, one of the only two
survivors of the ship that stole the treasure in 1820. Koch
(2012) pointed out that “August Gissler. This German spent 19
years, from 1889 to 1908, living in Cocos Island, to the point
that Costa Rica appointed him governor of the
Island”(para,10).

August Gissler spent 19 years
of his life looking for the
treasure of Lima. Some
reports indicate that he found
only a small part of the
treasure while others affirmed
that he never found anything.
He was even appointed
governor of the island by the
Costa Rican government
during 1897 until 1906. Gissler
argued possessing a map that
had been made by his own
father-in-law with the correct
location of the treasure.
Nevertheless, many
researcher manifest that the
map was less confident or
even false. Some historians
say that just when Gissler was
about to find the treasure, he
received an impacting news
that his wife died in New York.
Then he returned to USA and
he never came back.
Since the treasure story was
revealed even before Gissler,
there were many expeditions
to the Cocos Island in search
of the treasure. The
government of Costa Rica
authorized one of these
expeditions in 1994. Koch
(2012) mentioned that
“Ina Knobloch: This German
biologist will lead an
international expedition that
will head to the Cocos Island in
search (also) of the legendary
treasure.”(para,4.traslated by
the author).
Nonetheless, the search
gave no results and
after 10 days of searching
with the help of
technological equipment,
including a small robot that
infiltrated the tunnels and
caves of the island, the
Knobloch team found
nothing.
Although this writing
focused on the treasure of
Lima, it is worth
mentioning that other
stories suggest that Cocos
island keeps at least two
other treasures left there
by pirates Morgan, William
Cook and Benito Bonito
during 16th and 17th
centuries.
So far, no treasure has been
found, but historian Raúl
Arias Sánchez suggests that
the treasure of Lima does
exist and even suggests a
search with NASA
technological devices to
locate it.

The treasure
Images taken from: Área de Conservación Marina Isla del Coco
Beyond the myths and legends, Cocos Island really has a true treasure and it
is related to the exuberant beauty of the environment and the great variety
of fauna both terrestrial and marine. From 1980 onwards, biologists from
the University of Costa Rica have carried out numerous expeditions and
scientific studies to the flora and fauna of the island. As a result, these
investigations have shown that endemic animals live on the island. That is,
animals that are not found in other parts of the world. According to SINAC,
in the island we are found 235 kinds of plants, 400 different insects 65 of
them are endemics, 5 kinds of reptiles 2 of them are endemic, 3 kinds of
marine turtles, 100 kinds of births 3 endemic, 600 marine mollusks, and 250
kinds of fishes. Because of its great biodiversity, Cocos island has been the
site where national and international scientific studies and research have
taken place. Moreover, international recognition is so high that in 2008 it
was nominated candidate as one of the 7 wonders of the world. Also, the
National Geographic Organization has documented on video the beauty and
the great biodiversity of the region. Undoubtedly, the greatest treasure that
our country can have is the coconut island, a treasure that we must preserve
for future generations.

References
Arias, R. (2020). Historia y Leyenda de la Isla del Coco Fundación Amigos de la Isla del Coco
(FAICO). www.cocosisland.org
Esencial Costa Rica. (2020). Parque nacional isla del Coco. Taken from:
https://www.visitcostarica.com/es/costa-rica/where-to-go/protected-areas/parque-
nacional-isla-del-coco
Go visit Costa Rica where nature knows no boundary. (2020). Coco island natural park,
Puntarenas. Taken from: https://www.govisitcostarica.com/region/city.asp?cID=386#.
Koch, T. (2012). A la caza del gran tesoro pirata. Taken from:
https://elpais.com/cultura/2012/08/24/actualidad/1345825078_792624.html.
Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación. (2020). Área de Conservación Marina Cocos.
Taken from: http://www.sinac.go.cr/ES/ac/acmic/Paginas/default.aspx.
Universidad de Costa Rica. (2018). Los tesoros de la Isla del Coco serán analizados desde
distintas ciencias. Taken from: https://www.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/2018/02/09/los-tesoros-de-
la-isla-del-coco-seran-analizados-desde-distintas-ciencias.html.

Hurricane Eta: A Reminder of our Vulnerability and
Global Climate Change
Key words: vulnerability, environment, havoc, impact, sustainability
Bio blurb: Professor Gilberto Hernández Quirós holds a Ph.D. in education with a
specialization in pedagogical mediation. He defines himself as a person whose main goal is to
create environmental awareness and responsibility to preserve species and nature in general.
Besides his passion for nature, he takes great pleasure in teaching learning and learning
teaching. Learning foreign languages and photography are likewise activities that spice up his
life.

Hurricane Eta: A Reminder of our Vulnerability
and Global Climate Change
by Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós
Through the years, we have all been repeatedly hearing
about current research undertaken by different scholars,
students, environmentalists, academics and researchers
from all walks of life worldwide. Such research has been
related to the global emergency we are facing and the
need to shift direction in views of protecting our
environment and avoiding major disasters that, sooner or
later, will wreak havoc on humans, animals, and the
environment.
Quite recently and specifically on the first week of
November 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was
made evident how vulnerable we are in terms of
environmental threats as the Central American region was
subjected to dramatic environmental impact with the
arrival of ETA which slammed primarily the Caribbean
coast of Nicaragua and Honduras with repercussions in the
whole region with hundreds of fatalities in Guatemala.

Surprisingly, Costa Rica has been the only country in the region to
create a system of analysis, and follow-up of the sustainable human
development in the Central American region. This system was
named State of the Region, and it was put together by CONARE
(Consejo Nacional de Rectores) with its five state universities
seeking to help societies in the isthmus to better comprehend and
know their realities based on updated, objective, relevant, thorough
and rigorous data.
This report is geared towards fostering active, well-informed citizen
participation in the elaboration, execution and evaluation of the
actions that the governments undertake besides their cooperation
as well as regional integration aimed providing technical basis for
social and political dialogue and mutual understanding. All the
latter should be conducive towards sustainable human
development in the entire Central American isthmus.
Upon analyzing the Fourth Report of State of the Central American
Region on Sustainable Human Development, it is evident that their
investigation is thorough and quite detailed bringing up the impact
of climate change in Central America with some backbone elements
to highlight as asserted by CONARE.
“Climate change poses evidence of lagging and
underdevelopment in the human growth of the region.
Projections indicate that there will be significant changes
in the average temperature as well as in precipitation
patterns, which exacerbate impact on the increasing
quantity of disasters that affect the isthmus. Moreover,
effects are foreseen on of food security, agricultural
productivity, water management, coastlines, biodiversity
and ecosystems, among others”.

Indeed, we are being alerted on the fact that our region is a
hotspot with factual evidence and that it is undoubtedly
among the most vulnerable tropical regions in the world facing
climate change. To make things worse, global warming is
directly associated with an increase and decrease of
precipitation in various areas and seasons with negative
consequences for the management of hydric resources.
Another aspect to consider as per climate change are those
historic threats and vulnerabilities which Central America has
experienced and where environmental degradation, lack of
territorial regulation and structuring, risk and exposure of
inhabitants to disasters have been present. Those inhabitants
happen to be the ones who suffer and are mostly in abject
poverty. This all results in a chain of inefficient use of energy,
dependence on fossil fuels, mismanagement of water and
terrible institutional administration to deploy healthy and
successful environmental management.
In views of this whole issue, the questions we should
now ask ourselves and proactively react is which are
the main social, economic, and environmental
implications expected for Central America by
imminent climate change which has become a
reality.
By large and far, it is never too late to take action and
put your money where your mouth is from single to
collaborative actions with no regard to boundaries,
countries or nationalities as the whole isthmus
depends on itself and not just on single countries
and/or segregated areas. If we all work in unison
towards attaining the same goal, we will certainly
ensure better conditions and a safe place for
generations to come in the entire Central American
region and responding to the above mentioned
social, economic and environmental concerns..

Hurricane Eta: A Reminder of our
Vulnerability and Global Climate Change
The Gist: a student-generated journal of written expression. UNA Nicoya 2020
References
Repositorio Institucional CONARE. November
2020. Informe del Estado de la Región. Retrieved
from
http://repositorio.conare.ac.cr/handle/20.500.12337/13
Estado de la Región. Desafío del desarrollo
humano sostenible. November 2020. Retrieved
from
https://www.fesamericacentral.org/files/fes-america-
central/actividades/costa_rica/Actividades_cr/131030%20Cambi
o%20Climatico/Estado%20de%20la%20Region%20Cap9_cambio_
climatico.pdf

Thank You!
The Gist is published every month within UNA Nicoya social media and the
Chorotega University Campus Community as part of an ongoing written
expression project in the WORKSHOP IN EXPRESSION during the II Cycle of
2020 with Professor Dr. Gilberto Hernández Quirós.
gilberto.hernandez.quiros@una.cr

The gist nov dec issue

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to The gist nov dec issue

More from Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica

Recently uploaded

The gist nov dec issue