This years Alumni of the Month is Chening Duker, congratulations Chening!
When did you play?
Oh my! Well it must have been years ago by now. At my age, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact dates.. but I would say somewhere between the Tesla Model S launch and the iPhone7.
What position did you play?
Flanker. Both 6 and 7 depending on the personnel (which is lucky because I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which was which at the time )
What was your favorite memory as a member of the club?
A favourite, publishable and non-tour related memory was the lead up to the 2014 (and also 2015) Collegiate Rugby Championship (feels like it was almost four years ago now!).
Normally I left Ann Arbor during the habitable summer months, but before the CRC I had the chance to enjoy several weeks of Rugby Valhalla.
Despite Stu “Stu-Fit” Roche’s resolution that “If we weren’t going to be the best team at the CRC, we would be the fittest” and the accompanying Fun Runs©, Stairs sessions©, and other patent-pending workouts, those weeks turned out to be very enjoyable.
We ate, breathed and slept rugby – (literally: we would chew rugby balls to strengthen our neck muscles)*. School was over, the weather was perfect and all we did every day were rugby practices, speed sessions, conditioning, film sessions and near-daily team dinners. I imagine there are few better ways to spend summer than with some of your best friends, living out of each other’s pockets doing what you like to do best.
*A ‘StuFit’ patented exercise of debatable veracity
Did you receive any special honors as part of the club
Yes, though many were self-awarded, while others were likely clerical errors (USA Rugby am I rite?) . Here is a choice selection of my proudest moments.
1) I hung the longest from a pull-up bar in one of Stu-Fit’s patented ‘Fitness Challenges of debatable application to Rugby’. For this I was awarded “Least lynch-able” (self-awarded).
2) I captured a 3D render of apt. 1(?) of the Blackhouse ([link redacted]) before they turned it into a domicile. For this I was awarded “Memory collector – lvl. iv” (self-awarded).
3) A Spanish news program featured me alongside other UMRFC players and refereed to us as “Aguerridos Jugadores de Rugby” which google tells me means “Rugged players of Rugby” (http://www.panamericana.pe/tags/universidad+de+michigan) unfortunately, a Spanish speaking friend informed me that the headline was actually an exercise in sarcasm. For this I was awarded ” ‘Rugged’ player of Rugby” (internationally-accredited award)
What are you doing now?
I’m working at Duo Security in Ann Arbor, stopping hackers from accessing your accounts and private data (and by extension, your money, pets, loved ones and sentimental trinkets…)
I also still play rugby.
Any other interesting stories?
Yes.
…And a few in particular taught me a whole lot about how to deal with tricky situations, crises points, and difficult and important decisions. I’m grateful for that and happy the club is in a much better position. Onward!
And also that time when Foo dressed up as a lamb.
Is there anyone you would like to nominate for alumni of the month?
Robert (Bob) Jagunich if he hasn’t been nominated already.
