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**// =  Yellow Slugs Are Pretty Cool   = //**


 * // I believe in yellow slugs that look like bananas. I also believe in the power these small creatures have to change lives. In fact, I witnessed their transformative power first hand while volunteering at a YMCA outdoor science camp in the Redwood Forests of California. This experience taught me that if we want to make a difference in the world we must start by making a difference locally.  //**


 * // It was the spring of 2010 and I had arrived at Camp Campbell earlier in the day with fellow students from my university, all of us Alternative Break volunteers. We had traveled to California to spend a week working with children and as soon as we arrived we began hearing about these infamous banana slugs. These creatures spend their entire lives digesting leaves and other dead plant material which they recycle into the soil and, in this way, contribute to decomposition. I understood from the start how important they are to the ecosystem, but beyond that I didn’t think there was anything special about them until I met a young child with Asperger’s Syndrome. Children with this syndrome tend to be reserved and withdrawn from others. They have great difficulty in social interactions. At the time, I had never met anyone with Asperger’s and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I could tell from the start how withdrawn this child was going to be.  //**


 * // Throughout the week at camp the children spent most of their time on nature hikes where they learned about the unique history of the Redwoods and the many species that live there. On our first hike we spotted a banana slug. It was a small, yellow creature that slowly crawled over the leaves and twigs on the ground. When it was spotted the students came to an instant stop, crowded around the slug and stared at it in awe. They were fascinated by the yellow color, slimy skin and the two pairs of tentacles the slugs use to navigate their environment. All of the children were enthralled by this creature, except one. The child with Asperger’s was standing back from the rest of the group, unable to handle the excitement of all the kids. It was difficult to see him missing out on the experiences his classmates were having and I wanted to make sure he had a chance to see the banana slug. Finally, after I urged him on, he stepped forward. When he saw the slug crawling on the trail his eyes lit up. He had never seen anything quite like it before and his fears began to melt away as he stared at this little slug.  //**

My name is David Aragoni and I'm a Political Science/English major at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
 * // Although something like a banana slug that is small in size and never travels far might at first have seemed inconsequential compared to the giant Redwood trees, it had the power to transform a week at camp for this child into a great experience. Likewise, I realized we don’t have to travel halfway around the world to make a difference. If we want to change the world, we can start by looking closer to home.  //**