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Duck Day blog
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blog/duck_day_2026/index.html
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
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<title>Duck Day 2026</title>
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<body>
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<header>
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<h1>Duck Day 2026</h1>
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<div class="article-header">
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<address class="author">
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<a href="mailto:demetrius@demsem.dev">Demetrius Semanko</a>
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</address>
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<time class="date-posted" datetime="2026-03-03">2026-03-03</time>
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</div>
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<section>
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<p>
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When programming, we try to develop
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<span class="italic">something</span>, but we also develop
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<span class="italic">problems</span>. We try our best to fix the
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problem, but we find ourselves struggling. Who or what can we turn to?
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</p>
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<em>A duck! 🦆</em>
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<p>
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We can talk to a duck, usually a rubber duck, (or maybe even a real
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duck!) to vocalize the issue we encounter and how we want to address
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it. The simple act of articulating a programming problem often brings
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about a realization that inevitably precipitates the solution.
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</p>
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<p>
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Duck Day sought to coordinate a mid-semester gathering for our fellow
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Computer Science majors to grab a rubber duck, chat, unwind, and have
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some food. We had nearly 40 attendees, and it went off without any
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hiccups. What a success!
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</p>
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</section>
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<nav>
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<a href="/">Home</a>
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<a href="/projects/">Projects</a>
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<a href="/blog/" class="titular-navbar-tab">Blog</a>
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</nav>
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</header>
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<main>
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<section>
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<h2>I am a Treasurer</h2>
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<p>
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Becoming Treasurer for the Computer Science club only recently, I
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learned a decent bit about event planning from the perspective of a
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funds person. I think going through the motions helped increase my
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confidence in the role. For our event's catering order, I oversaw the
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major stages of ordering, communicating with the vendor, and picking
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up the food (with the appreciated assistance from some extra pairs of
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hands! 😁).
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</p>
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<p>
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We knew our choice of vendor for quite a while. When ordering, I
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worked with our Club's President to make some selections. I had and
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stayed below a target total. Communication with the vendor began
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immediately after ordering. I really enjoyed communicating our
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circumstances as an organization, our funding status, and both asking
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and answering questions. For example, we did not know if we had the
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requisitioned funds available to us. I communicated the uncertainty
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with the vendor, and I would like to imagine the vendor enjoyed
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staying in the loop. I genuinely did not want to sully our
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customer-client relationship. Eventually, I went directly to our
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University's organizational funds management office and confirmed the
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funds availability to us. We made our payment, grabbed our food, and I
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call all that a success!
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</p>
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</section>
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<section>
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<h2>Problems and Solutions</h2>
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<p>
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Another vendor, from whom we have ordered before, gave us a hard time.
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Previously, after ordering online with them, we went to pick up the
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order only for us to hear, "we didn't receive your order". Of course,
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we cannot blame the worker for this. Their responsibility does not
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include making sure the online point-of-sale/ordering tools work. I
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also cannot in confidence conclude any intentionality in the
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misgivings we experienced.
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</p>
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<p>
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For this year's Duck Day, our Club President placed an order through
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the vendor's website, but, having a bad experience with them
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previously, they also tried to call and confirm the order.
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<i>They didn't answer the phone.</i> In fact, on Duck Day, we called
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seven (7) times with no answer. My much needed help and I drove to the
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place and asked about our order.
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<i>They didn't receive the order.</i> I did not fault the worker for
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this happening. Luckily, the worker quickly put together our order
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since the food prepares easily (and is eaten even more easily! 😋).
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</p>
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<p>
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I had a great time helping make sure this event went together and went
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off with relatively no issues. When an issue did come up, like when
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one of our vendor's ordering system didn't work, we addressed it.
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</p>
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</section>
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<section>
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<p>
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Thank you to everyone for coming together and bringing their
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happiness!
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</p>
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</section>
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</main>
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<footer><section>© 2026 Demetrius</section></footer>
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</body>
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</section>
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</body>
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<footer><section>© 2026 Demetrius</section></footer>
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<a href="/blog/">Blog</a>
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reprehenderit!
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</main>
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<footer><section>© 2026 Demetrius</section></footer>
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style.css
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