Foreign Language Scholarship - 2nd Place

Question: What single figure or event in the history of your host country has most contributed to your desire to study a foreign language?

A Tradition of Peace

Latin American history has always intrigued me. Collectively, it's a turbulent one full of violence and corruption and characterized by an overarching political instability. However, that's not to say there are no exceptions, and a glaring one is Costa Rica. Any time Costa Rica was mentioned in one of my history classes, it was always glossed over very quickly because, let's face it; history tends to focus on the problems rather than the successes. I began wondering why this country has had such a peaceful past. So, I did a little research and came across a man name José Figueres Ferrer. He was a well educated, successful Costa Rican coffee grower who stormed his was into history by speaking out against an oppressive regime, being exiled to Mexico, starting the Costa Rican Civil War, defeating the reining dictator and his army, and taking over the government. Such a sequence of events does not sound too peaceful, as the Costa Rican Civil War as the bloodiest 44 days of the county's history, but those days paved the way for the peace and stability for which the country is now known.

The fact that Figueres lead a rebel army to a successful coup, being a regular citizen, is by all means extraordinary, but that is not the most amazing part of this story. It's what Figueres did with the power he acquired; he reformed the country, setting up one of the purest and most progressive democracies I believe the world has seen to this day. During his time in power he abolished the Costa Rican army, redirected those funds towards education as well as guaranteed education to all, nationalized railroads and banks, and gave women and illiterates the right to vote. Then he did something that, in light of a world history plagued by selfishness and power hungry men, was simply astonishing: he willingly gave up power. He said he would take only a year and a half to do what he thought best for the country, and exactly eighteen months later he stepped down, giving the presidency to the man elected by the people eight years earlier; an election result the previous dictator had refused to legitimize. When I first learned about Figueres, that act along earned by respect and admiration immediately. To truly put your country first, above yourself, and do what's best for the masses and not the elites is too rare of an occurrence. Even his actual acts while in power promoted the greater good over that of the few. Above all, it astounds me that he abolished, that means eradicated, dissolved, eliminated, the army. THE ARMY! Historically, the first thing countries do is build up their military and increase their arms supply. Yet here is Costa Rica, a country that has had no army since 1948 and it maintains one of the most peaceful, successful and most sovereign histories in Latin America. To stand in front of your country and do something that no country today would even think of doing…that is truly revolutionary. It should be no wonder why I find Latin America's, and Costa Rica's in particular, history and culture riveting and why I'm so invested in learning Spanish. I cannot wait to experience the country for myself, and I will eagerly keep my eyes and ears open for tributes paid to the Costa Rican national hero, José Figueres Ferrer.

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