Proud to be an Ican

This is the continuation of my piece on the 70th anniversary of my alma mater Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA).

The first part of the article appeared on Jan. 29, or three months ago. What took me so long to get this second part done? Simple, I just ended up in the hospital as a medical condition called placenta previa finally hit me – like a thief in the night as they say. Placenta previa is not a Toyota van. It is a condition which occurs in only one out of 200 pregnant women, and by some twist of fate, I was one of the 200.

I graduated from ICA way back in 1978, and I was pregnant recently? Yes, I was. And how on earth did I get placenta previa or get pregnant? That’s a long story and deserves another article. Let me talk about how it feels to be tied down to a hospital bed for 18 straight days (I was talking to the walls) and how it feels like to finally give birth at the age 44 (I will be mistaken as my daughter’s grandmother as soon as I enroll her in kindergarten).

ICA’s 70th anniversary celebration was held at the school grounds in Greenhills, San Juan last Feb. 4, which was the 141st birth anniversary of Sr. Delia Tetreault, the founder of the congregation Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception. The grand event was attended by over a thousand alumnae, parents of alumnae, and benefactors. It started with a Mass celebrated by Fr. Esteban Lo, the national assistant of the Chinese-Apostolate, followed by a short performance featuring a medley of Chinese dances. The highlight of the evening was an art exhibit entitled "Evening with the Masters" featuring works by National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva, National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo Luz, and hopefully future national artists Anita Magsaysay-Ho and Ramon Orlina. (I always wonder how the search and selection process goes). Proceeds from the sale of the artworks will go to the school’s Grant-in Aid Program and Search for the Most Outstanding Teacher Award in ICA.

Sr. Dina Ang, school directress, could not help but exclaim, "The celebration was so beautiful!" Sr. Teresita Canivel, finance director and directress for 19 years, said, "It was another grace, another blessing. Can you imagine, it was very cloudy in the morning. I thought it was going to rain. But the clouds cleared in the afternoon."

"But the best thing that happened," continued Sr. Canivel, "was me hearing all the alumnae say, ‘I’m proud to be an ICAn.’"