Costa Rican UCLA students form “Ticos for UCLA” club

Born in the United States, Yenory Chaves still maintains a strong connection to the country her family came from – Costa Rica.

The fourth-year French student said her steadfast identity as a Costa Rican inspired her to start a club for Costa Rican students at UCLA this year.

This past month, she officially established “Ticos for UCLA,” an organization for Costa Rican students to learn about their culture and teach others about their customs.

“Tico” refers to a native of Costa Rica and descends from the popular diminutive Spanish suffixes “tico” and “ito.”

The club hosted its first official meeting on Jan. 21 in Haines Hall, and it also hosted a movie night later that week where the club screened El Regreso, a film directed by and starring Costa Rican actor Hernan Jimenez.

Chaves, whose parents are Costa Rican, decided to actively reconnect with her culture a few years ago after taking second place at a local pageant for Costa Rican women.

After searching for other Costa Rican students through Facebook, Chaves contacted Alejandra Vindas, a second-year Spanish and linguistics student, and Lester Rosales, a second-year biology student.

Chaves said she often feels left out at UCLA because she hasn’t met many other Costa Ricans, and she wanted to start a club that would represent her people.

“(We are a) resource for learning about a foreign culture,” Chaves said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Although the group said they were excited to kick off their club, they were also disappointed by the small number of people who showed up to the meeting.

The group said they intend to reach out to other student groups, like Hermanas Unidas, to attract more members before the next meeting on Tuesday.

The group plans to teach their members about what life in Costa Rica is like and hopes to bring together the Costa Rican community at UCLA, which they said is underrepresented on campus.

Rebecca Kendall, a UCLA spokeswoman, said there is a small number of Costa Rican international and transfer students.

Chaves and Vindas, who go to Costa Rica every couple of years to visit family and learn more about their culture, said they did not expect to meet other Costa Rican students on campus.

“You meet a lot of people from Mexico, for example, or from Central America,” Vindas said. “But when you tell someone you’re Costa Rican, they get surprised.“

Vindas visited Cartago, a city near the capital of Costa Rica, two years ago with her family and the beautiful sights she saw and the memories she has from her trip inspired her to apply for her Costa Rican citizenship last year, which she now has.

Rosales, who moved to South Los Angeles from Costa Rica as a sophomore in high school, said he agreed to help start the club because Costa Rica has always been close to his heart.

“It’s the place where I was born and grew up,” he said. “I consider it my country.”

Chaves said one of her favorite memories from her recent trip to Costa Rica was visiting Playa Samara and the Cavernas de Barra Honda.

Chaves is graduating this year, but the trio wants to continue to develop the club and hopes to get more students to join.

“It’s not just for Costa Ricans,” Chaves said. “It’s a resource for learning about a foreign culture. That’s what we’re here for. We just want to share our culture.”