Dialogue

Dalia Carbajal-Robles
UC Davis undergraduate,  4th year
Major: Landscape Architecture

Elizabeth and I created a sitting area with wooden pallets at the site, helping us to better brainstorm our ideas!

The ability to communicate effectively with others and myself is something I strive to improve all the time. Having good communication skills can help one build strong relationships; it can help both parties learn and grow. During my freshman year at the University of California, Davis, I attended a dialogue seminar. It helped me develop confidence in my communication, as well as understand other people's viewpoints. This week I realized how much dialogue I have been practicing with people of different ages at Pine Trails Ranch.

There are various types of dialogue in our daily lives, such as Inner Dialogue and Outer Dialogue. An outer dialogue is a conversation between two people in which their characteristics can be demonstrated. For example, parents and children stopped by to ask what we are planning to plant or comment on how nicely the garden beds are coming along! Michelle Haseltine, who is the owner of Pine Trails Ranch, talked to us about gardening and shared with us some secrets of what has allowed her to grow healthy plants. These conversations have helped me see things from a different perspective and build resilience. My teammates have also provided valuable feedback and opinions that helped us decide if there was something we needed to change or consider. Other times I have Inner Dialogue where I speak or think to myself either in Spanish or in English. In both Spanish and English, I find it helpful to communicate with myself; both worlds help me see and say things differently. When brainstorming or analyzing ideas about the garden beds, I also ask myself, "How can I improve?" The ability to speak both English and Spanish has also been an integral part of my communication skills, and there are sometimes ideas I can't express in English that I can in Spanish (and vice versa).

Dialogue enables us to better understand people and situations. Our relationships with people on the Ranch and my teammates have been strengthened through dialogue; trust and unity have been developed.