Citrus’ dean of student services, Maryann Tolano-Leveque hosted a workshop for the Associated Students of Citrus College, Citrus’ student government, meeting on June 3.
The workshop titled, “The Art of Peace: Managing Conflict through Communication and Respect” took place in the Campus Center.
Tolano-Leveque had a slideshow prepared to talk about multiple topics.
Everyone in attendance received the book “Taking the War Out of Our Words” by Sharon Strand Ellison. The book discusses why being careful with words is important and what people can do in order to demonstrate more effective non-defensive. communication skills.
Everyone also received a packet that correlated to what Tolano-Leveque discussed during her presentation.
Tolano-Leveque made it very interactive and allowed the ASCC members to reflect deeply about themselves. The first topic allowed them to meditate and reconnect with their inner child.
Tolano-Leveque said that a lot of the trauma that people experience and how it affects their personalities happens during childhood. The process of reconnecting with one’s inner child allows for a person to heal from any harm they might have gone through.
The ASCC members closed their eyes as they listened to an instructive audio that let them envision their inner child and have a discussion with them. Afterwards, they worked on a section of the packet that asked them some questions about what their inner child was like and what they talked about with them while listening.
The next topic during the workshop was discussing different attachment styles.
Tolano-Leveque said that In psychology, the “attachment theory” focuses on how humans in their early childhood bond with their primary caregiver(s), and how it may affect them later on in their lives.
Tolano-Leveque explained that there are four main attachment styles: secure, anxiety, avoidant and fearful attachment. The council had taken an assessment beforehand to help them determine their attachment style, so that section was just going into further detail on what the different styles meant.
She said that generally, half of all people have a secure attachment, whilst the other half either have anxiety attachment or avoidant attachment. Whilst a small percentage of people have a fearful attachment.
Other topics that were discussed included conversation types and how to avoid using violent communication styles during conflicts.
Tolano-Leveque said the topics in her conversation matter because of how many people have insecure attachment styles. She said she wants to help bring awareness to the topic so people can get the help they need.
“The reason it’s (the workshop) so important is because self awareness is the most important thing to help someone better their relationships with other people,” Tolano-Leveque said. “I think we need to look at ourselves first before we start talking about how we can, you know, do really good communication with others or resolve conflict.
AJ Hernandez, newly elected student trustee for the 2025-26 year was one of the ASCC members in attendance and participated in the workshop. Hernandez said he thought the workshop was engaging and gave a lot of insight and how he and the ASCC can better support students on campus.
“One key takeaway for me was the importance of being intentional with our leadership and communication, making sure every student feels seen and heard,” Hernandez said.
Tolano-Leveque said the reason she decided to create this workshop with ASCC is because of the interest in the topic of communications beforehand.
“Because they were interested in that topic and it’s just a topic that I love, I decided that I would put something together and present it for them,” Tolano-Leveque said.
Tolano-Leveque said she wants the council and others to work to become the best version of themselves to live their best lives. She said she believes those are important values.
