Ate Conching

Thoughtful, sweet, hardworking, lively - these were the first four words that entered into my mind when I think about Ate Conching. She was a humble member of the auxiliary back in my alma matter, PAREF Woodrose.

Ate Conching with my batchmate, Anna

When my batch and I entered Woodrose in 2000, she was already working as the person in charge of the Physical Education facilities. Normally every PE class when we have sports, she was the person from whom we got the volleyballs, badminton rackets, and what not from. We were always greeted with her warm smile and lively personality.

We grew up with her in our lives. She was assigned to different tasks which she did with love throughout the years. Moreover, when we reached high school, she was assigned to our building.

In the high school building, the auxiliary had their nook near the girls washroom. And being normal Woodrose girls, we took our time in the bathroom chit-chatting and just chilling there. But the point is that, a lot of the times I'd enter the washroom, she'd be like "Hi Queen!" which she pronounced as "Kwen". One of us would start making conversation and a lot of the times we'd talk about our families and our lives. Those were good moments.




Moreover, at the end of the school day, she and the other auxiliary cleaned the classrooms and they also made small talk there. If it had been a while since dismissal time, she'd ask "Wala pa sundo mo, *insert name here*?" (No one is fetching you yet, *insert name here*?).

There were also the times wherein some of the students would step on a "Don't Step On the Grass" area, and she'd catch us. She had this pretty annoyed look on her face and she told us (usually in a sweet manner) that we shouldn't be stepping on the grass. And we just smiled at her. Haha! Good times. She abides by rules which is a good thing.

Also, I know we made her and the other auxiliary really happy too when we had the Cleanest Classroom Competition wherein every week they had to judge who had the cleanest classroom. You see all the girls at the end of the school day being competitive making sure there's no plastic or no bag left on top of the cubbyholes, that the books are by height in the cubbyholes, that there's no trash on the floor (not even a paper clip), that all the chairs were aligned by column and by row.. every single detail. I'm glad that it was a load off their work even if was as simple as that. At least they had a little more energy for when they go home to their families.

Some of the auxiliary during the Auxiliary Tribute
That's Ate Conching in blue behind me and that's one of my amazing friends, Jellie to the far right.

I would never forget that one time she asked me to help them choreograph a dance with a cheer since she with the other auxiliary wanted to join a noon-time show which required them to have a cheer. With regret, I never got a chance to help them with that. But she was really happy after this dance my batch mates and I danced during the senior tradition Auxiliary Tribute. Simple joys. :)

NOTE: The dance is pretty simple since we got the simple steps from the different cheerdances from the different teams during our intramurals (and a little help from YouTube for some parts of the chorus).It had to be easy enough since we only got to practice this 2 hours before.


You might be wondering, "what's with all the talk about Ate Conching?".

Earlier this evening, my high school teacher and mentor, Mrs. Sator, reached out to me and five of my other batchmates telling us

"please tell your batch that Ate Conching was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She will undergo a mastectomy this Thursday, and she needs our prayers, and if possible, our financial assistance to help her pay for six cycles of chemo. A little bit of help will go a long way."

News spread like wildfire - from retweets, to people mentioning her in their tweets, to people asking to pray for her, to some thinking about fundraisers to help support her.

Ina Villegas and I have planned to sell pink ballers with #prayforateconching embossed in white on it. She already ordered them and we will have them in about a week or two. I'll let you guys know about that once we have them already. We hope we can get your support to sell them. All the proceeds will be given to Ate Conching.

Also, Cathy Espino has offered to sell her breast cancer awareness stickers for P100 each. I'm talking to her about it and I'll update you guys about that too. 

Ate Conching has made our lives easier AND she has touched them too one way or another. She was there for us along the way in our lives in Woodrose, and no doubt we'll be here for her! 

To her family, she's a wife, sister, and a daughter. To us, she's our Ate Conching. But she's one amazing person we all love. We won't let her down. She'll always be in our hearts and in our prayers. Let's do what we can for her TO BEAT BREAST CANCER!

With her positive outlook, I know she can beat breast cancer!

That's her with her in blue with her arms wide open in the front.